Between
by lePointEphemere
Summary: After being drugged and kidnapped, Serena must choose between the two great loves of her life. Serena/Dan/Nate. Mid-Season 4 and beyond. Some Chuck/Blair, as well.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**_

~Based on the TV series-characters are not mine.

~This is my version of season 4 episode 9, 10, 11 and beyond, starting with Chuck's masked party, and Serena's big decision between Nate and Dan. Some things to know beforehand: Jenny does switch out Serena's SIM card like she does in the original, but instead, the only text she sends to Nate and Dan is, "I'll choose tonight at the party" and the text to Dean Luther by Juliet is done before the party instead of after. If you have no idea what I'm talking about; don't worry-all will be clear.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

"Serena!" Nate looks at her, taking in the sight as she walks towards him through the throng of people at the party. She's in a wonderfully lacy dress and mask, and Nate wants to kiss her, urgently. He revels in her golden halo and her smooth skin. She pulls him in, secretively, hands on his hips, urgent and digging. She leans, and they met in the middle, fitting to each other, familiar and calm.

His question is answered. She chooses him over Dan. He should be whooping, euphoric. But everything about the kiss, about Serena, is off. He closes his eyes for the brief kiss and thinks hard.

Her smell. There's only sickly perfume in the air. He inhales deep through his nose on instinct, causing "Serena" to flinch. There is no signature Serena smell; no smell that leaves him too short of breath to identify exactly what it is. All Nate knows is that the words "blonde", "Serena", "best friend", "lover", "clean", "sweet", "beautiful", and "too good" drift through his thoughts when he smells it.

But he feels nothing about the girl in front of him. He can't smell it. Can't feel it. And can't see it. Her hair color is off a shade, and this girl is definitely not Serena.

Before he can do anything, she's gone, leaving him with a bad taste on his lips. Something is utterly wrong.

Later, after downing some vodka, he sees another girl in that blue dress and mask pretending to be Serena. From this distance, he can tell her hair is a wig. She whirls around and lands a big kiss on Humphrey. Dan scrunches his face, confused, as she leaves abruptly. He squints his eyes in that signature Dan Humphrey way. Nate can't tell if Dan knows it's not Serena.

Nate clenches his fist. He could care less about Dan, but where's the real Serena? With the whispering and chaos of Blair in lingerie and Chuck discovered kissing her on the balcony, he sees no blue lace again. He spots his mom working the crowd and Blair walking towards her. It's a mess of everything, and finally, ten minutes later, he spots the real Serena, mask off, talking with a pissed-off Blair. Blair wouldn't mistake Serena any more than he would, as both Nate's and Blair's two whole lifetimes of friendship with the loveable girl are enough to tell a fake Serena from the real thing. He yells out "Serena"!, while trying to fight through the crowd to her, but she doesn't hear. She puts her mask back on and exits stage right before Nate reaches her.

Dan paces the empty ballroom, looking for a sign of Serena. He needs to know exactly what Serena meant with her kiss. She would want to talk about her choice, or just stay with him, now that she finally chose Dan over Nate, yet, she didn't. Something was wrong. Dan could only think of two options: either that was a mournful goodbye kiss or that wasn't Serena. It hadn't felt like a goodbye kiss, as tongues were involved. He recalls the deep kiss, and remembers the lips were slightly rough and dry, as opposed to Serena's usually smooth and soft lips, and- his imagination is running wild. A girl can have bad lip days too, right? He has no idea. He sighs in frustration, running his hands through his hair. He can't keep trying to figure out this puzzle. Nobody ever said love was easy nor straightforward; certainly, the greatest authors never did, but he's not sure love is ever supposed to unsolvable. He can't seem to find many great pointers of advice in Hemingway and Fitzgerald's books anyway, unless you count "marry the woman who nurses you during a world war" or "just don't be wealthy".

He catches a glimpse of Blair and Chuck talking and Nate walking out in the opposite direction, and realizes there are three childhood friends of Serena that come damn close to knowing every detail of the mystery that is Serena itself.

"Sir, the party is over. It's time to leave," a ruffled looking security man says to Dan.

Dan affirms the man's statement with a nod, looking at his watch. It's already 2 AM. "I'll be right out."

Well, it's always a pleasant surprise to be acknowledged as a guest to a party without a guest list to confirm his status or Serena by his side. He walks over to Blair, the safest choice, avoiding the urge to punch Chuck the Basstard and not knowing where Nate the Archrival had gone to.

"Have you seen Serena?" he asks. He groans internally as her face turns snide. She isn't a much better choice than Chuck or Nate.

"Why are you talking to me, Brooklyn? Go back to whatever garbage can you crawled out of."

Dan sighs. "Just tell me if you've seen her."

"Yes, Humphrey, I was just talking with her."

Dan lets out a breath. "She wasn't...different...from usual, right?"

Blair rolls her eyes, and pulls on her gloves, which don't look more substantial than the lingerie she's wearing. "Don't blame a tiff you had with Serena on a mood swing. And plus, I don't want to see the selfish bitch either right now. She just ruined my chances at becoming the new face of Anne Archibald's charity. " She cuts a haughty glance at him under an arched brow, then gives a pert "goodbye" and a demeaning smirk and goes on her way.

Dan shakes his head at the Waldorf. So "Not Serena" option is eliminated. His damn writer's imagination. That leaves the awful truth, as much as he wants to avoid it. He sits at a nearby bench to calm himself. _Pick me, Serena. Pick me._ He wants her so badly he thinks he could feel it in his bones. It starts as a heartburn, but spreads to his stomach, steadily burning. _It will never be the same without you._

Nate sees a flash of blue lace in his peripheral vision as he walks out of the party, avoiding the large flow of exiting partygoers at the main doors by taking the side exit like Serena did. What he sees as he turns toward the blue fills him with confusion. It's Serena, wasted away like the old days, passed out in a cab after a hard night of partying. Or at least it seems so. It's a familiar sight-though what he thought was a long-gone one, but why else would she be sleeping, of all things? He inhales slowly and walks adagio slow toward the cab, unsure of what he would do or say, but not willing to let her go just like that, without answers for everything that happened that night and the choice she was supposed to make between him and Dan. A whirl of black captures his glance-it's a figure rounding the back of the cab to get in the other side of the car. A piece of blue fabric flows a few inches beyond the hooded coat, and then it hits him. It's fake Serena. Alarm bells go off, roaring with dark realization, along with the dissipation of any doubt of the imposter's intention: she's taking Serena. The figure looks at him, face hidden by the mask and the hood. She raises a hand and uses the universal gesture for "Come and get me". He runs forward, trying to catch her before she enters the cab, but she's standing too close to the open taxi door-she slips in and then-

Then they're gone, a roar in the still-bustling New York night. The omnipresent honking continues as the taxi whizzes away.

 _What is she doing save her save her_

He hails a cab and goes chasing after without a second thought. Like always. But he will never leave her for dead. He would never leave her for anything, so long as she wants him. His hands clenches on the dull leather of the cab, and he wishes to a higher power that he can catch them in two cabs, racing each other in the night traffic, no more than a couple of miles from the Upper East Side, are both whisked into what seems like a whole other city: Queens.

Dan looks up at the starry winter sky, the deep, sharp, in-focus kind that only occurs after a big flurry of snow. Instead of admiring the crisp aesthetic of the night sky, his mind turns over and over again the dark silhouette of Serena, eyes furrowed and closed in the yellow taxi, taking off, and the image of a harried Nate throwing himself into a cab and tearing off like hell was burning at his heels. Whether it was a coincidence he was going towards the same direction as Serena, Dan doesn't know. All he knows is that they weren't leaving together in the same cab, which leaves him rubbing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose in confusion. A goodbye kiss for him would mean a hello kiss for Nate. Or it meant, yet again, she had not chosen either of them. Serena did simply look sad and tired with her eyes shut, while Nate looked preoccupied.

Dan isn't sure about anything, and he wishes Serena would explain her actions. He doesn't know how he expected she would make her choice evident, but he thought if anything, the winner and loser would be clear. There was something rotten and not quite right about tonight, but all Dan manages to do is pull out his cell phone and twiddle with it, unbending pride not allowing him to text either Serena or Nate.

Nate looks out his window, blond streaks of hair catching in the pale halo of the street lights. He cranes his neck trying to see as far forward as he can. He doubts the mystery girl wants to take Serena out for a tea party, even though he isn't sure of exactly what's going on between them. But if S is as wasted as her limp limbs suggested, she isn't safe from much of anyone. He knows the sheer amount of alcohol and drugs Serena's liver can handle from the old days. If she's passed out, it had to be a one hell of a mix of something. He doesn't want to think of the possibility of a roofie or some other date rape drug with the sole purpose of knocking her out. But it had been an innocent enough party-a high end guest list approved by Chuck himself. Shaking his head in confusion, he yells at the cabbie to punch it.

Instead the cabbie pulls over and replies, "They, uh, must've gotten out of the cab somewhere here, but a truck passed by and I didn't see that cab-"

"Goddammit, I told you to pay attention!" Nate shouts, panicked.

"Well, I was just thinking if I was gonna get in trouble for stalking someone..."

Blue sapphire eyes crackling, Nate throws a withering glance at the man. He throws a bill dug from his wallet at him.

"Go wild," he mutters as he steps out onto the cracked cement of the front of a dilapidated building. He realizes he only tossed the cabbie a five. Thankfully, the boorish man drives off, muttering, and Nate is left on Koch Avenue with a sickening clear thought in the middle of an unfamiliar borough in New York. His stomach sinks. _She's gone_.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Please review and tell me what you think! I love feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** I should mention that this is something I scribbled down three or four years ago with every intention of publishing, but unfortunately, never got around to. The writing style is a little young, but I'm doing my best to edit it before publishing it! But yes, it's all fully written, although I may write an additional epilogue for personal pleasure. Enjoy, and tell me if you're team Nate or Dan! This is my first story, so please be kind! :)

 **Chapter 2**

Dan stares at his cell phone. What the hell is going on? He furrows his brow, thinking hard. There are only a couple of things he is sure about: Nate and Serena had some type of fight, and there was something wrong about that kiss. But Serena would talk, Serena would text, Serena would call. Dan knew, at the least, Serena respected him and would tell him, personally, not just give a damn confusing goodbye kiss if she chose Nate. But the problem lie in that Nate and Serena did not seem happy and didn't leave together-not like Dan would do if he could to stay with Serena. He needs to talk to her. He stands up, shivering in the night air, checking his cell phone for the umpteenth time and hails a cab towards the van der Woodsen penthouse.

* * *

Nate spends the better part of an hour asking the locals for two blonds in the same dress, one wearing a black hooded coat. Queens isn't a terribly safe place to wander around at night, undoubtedly, but Serena's cab stopped here. They can't have gone far; the cabbie said they pulled over on this street, even if he didn't seen where exactly. Nobody can drag a limp body too far either, even more so when the limp body would have been the 5'10 Serena. The only problem therein is that the street melds into several different streets they easily could have walked to, and nobody is helpful enough to point him in the right direction. Some give the same reaction after taking one look at his blatantly fancy tux. His conversations with a couple of them include sneers, explicit curse words and "No, go fuck yourself", although most only look indifferent and shrug their shoulders. He only asks the people on the street the cabbie dropped him off at, but he is sure Villers, Walden and Park Road will yield similar results.

He sits down on a bench, slumping with fatigue and failure. He looks up at the night sky, dark in its glory. No stars, no clouds. He sighs and rubs his eyes. He doesn't have a clue where Serena. What is he even doing? Serena isn't his responsibility. Serena probably already chose Dan. She always did, and always would. For God's sake, she even chose his cousin over him once. From the moment she came back, and three years later she would choose Dan. Dan should be here. He should be here in Nate's place, frantic. But Nate has been friends with Serena for his entire life, and even if Dan abandons ship, he never will. He stands up, refreshed, and sets off again, still believing in some small part of his mind that his efforts are futile.

* * *

"I'm done with Serena, Dan. I know you care about her a lot, bless your heart, and of course, so do I. So does her friends, and the rest of this family. But she never changes, Dan." Lily sets down a wine glass on the marble countertop so harshly Dan is sure it would shatter. She draws in a ragged breath. "She never changes, Dan. She quit Columbia via a text, for God's sake! She just quit, and there's no chance in this universe that Dean Luther will take her back. She had an affair with her teacher. If that in itself isn't enough,I had to pay Juliet to keep quiet about another affair with another teacher."

"Lily-" He is cut off from defending Serena.

"She's out there becoming the old, wild Serena, and it's too much. I've sat through her actions and fought for her for long enough. Nobody who loves her should have to watch her go through that phase again." Lily stops to breathe in deeply again, wiping at her eyes. "I think I'll go to bed now. Thank you for the talk, dear. Goodnight." Mrs. van der Woodsen walks away, still dabbing at her eyes in an effort to keep tears from falling. Dan looks away. He stands there for a moment. Lily has never had much reason to trust Serena, but he knows Serena is worthy of trust. He groans as he sits down fatigued at the counter. He puts his head on his crossed arms. Tired. He's tired of playing the Upper East Side game. His eyes droops and, lost in his haphazard thoughts about the tall blonde he's in love with, he falls asleep. He wakes up with a jolt as he almost slides off his chair. He stands up, a unfamiliar couch blanket almost falling to the floor. He hadn't put that there. He glances at the clock, which reads 4:33, eyes squinting with bleariness. Shit. He had fallen asleep for about two hours on a countertop, of all places. He tosses the throw onto the couch and walks down the hallway, glancing inside Serena's room. His brows knit. Still gone. Where the hell can Serena be then, at this hour after going off in a cab? With Nate?

* * *

Nate stands up from his resting perch on the bench and walks no more than a minute, slightly aimlessly, before somebody taps him. That somebody turns out to be a little old lady, white haired and hunched, dressed in a motley collection of brightly colored fabrics, draped all over in no particular order over her body and head. He won't be surprised if they turn out to be only squares of fabric attached with safety pins. Her gnarled hands press a dirty envelope in his hand.

"Calderon building no. 392 Walden St." is all that's scribbled on it in scrawled handwriting. He digs into the envelope to pull out a piece of fine, sapphire colored lace. His breath catches, and his throat makes a pained cough.

Panicked, he grabs the old lady, probably too harshly, staring into muddy brown eyes. "Where did you get this? Did you write this?" His hands are lost in the burrows of her voluminous clothing and catch at her toothpick-like arms.

Equally disquieted, her wrinkled eyes grow wide, and she shakes her head vigorously, attempting to retreat from both his gaze and his grip. Nate releases her immediately, a bit shocked at his response, also knowing instinctively this lady isn't the person behind it all. The lady quickly turns and leaves on a side street, stealing harried glances at him as she does. Nate rubs through his hair sheepishly, but turns equally quickly, eyes already scanning the address written on the envelope. Should he call the police? Somebody is toying with him. But he doesn't know at all what's going on, and he doesn't want to risk calling the cops on an intoxicated Serena, especially if she took something not entirely legal, until he knows what state she's in.

Nate finds the building clearly marked. He glances up at the old, dilapidated apartment building. He sighs a little, but forges on. As soon as he opens the door, he knows he can't turn back. The blue gown of Serena's, demolished and destroyed, lies curled on the floor in absolute shreds. The envelope drops from his hand as he bends down to finger the fabric in naked shock, crying out, "Serena!'

* * *

Dan exits the van der Woodsen building with a new determination to find Serena. He last saw her in a cab, with Nate following closely after. His eyes widen for a moment then close as he shakes his head. Nate would never. The two things he saw had no relation to the other. But Dan thinks again for a moment-what wouldn't a desperate man do? He shakes his head again and laughs to himself. Nate has a thinking, rational brain, albeit a bit dim one. He's decent when he wants to be.

Dan stops in front of Serena's building, knitting his brows together. He should follow the age-old adage though: Never trust anyone on the Upper East Side. He would regret it if he did. Maybe he would regret trusting Serena. He pulls out his cell phone to check the one source he could trust, if only for the picture evidence.

* * *

Nate stops with his breath caught in his throat. Then releases it, seeing as that signature Serena smell is absent as he bends to examine the fabric. He looks at both staircases and stares, dumbfounded at which one to take. Up or down...he mused. He bends his head at the absurdity of this situation but, catching sight of the ripped dress, runs upstairs. Three steps at a time.

* * *

Dan glances at the picture in his hand again, horrified. Unable to believe his vague suspicions have further evidence, he has to look at the foreboding picture once more. He's right to have checked Gossip Girl. He's right to turn suspicion on his friend, or rather, fiend, Archibald. Because there he is, closely tailing Serena in the cab, with an inexplicably angry expression. Before, he wasn't sure what Nate's face held. But he can read it now. And so can the rest of the UES rich bitches, with a typically snide caption hovering above it: "Perhaps Lonely Boy isn't the Loneliest of the Upper East Side". In smaller font, "Because we sure haven't seen D chasing S in a cab around NY. We love you, N, but depravity doesn't look good on anyone."

He laughs for a hideous moment, but it isn't full of anything but worry. He shakes his head and gets up, stymied, to go back to his warm, Lonely Boy roots to puzzle it out. He walks through the streets, turning over one scenario, then another. As soon as he arrives at the loft, he is hit with another wave of exhaustion. Dan rubs his eyes, forcing them to stay open. He feels like he might pass out if he doesn't sleep. He digs out his old sheets and fervently prays, not to anyone specifically, just after he sets a timer for a nap of a couple hours, that Serena calls him soon and explains what is going on. He lies down, groaning at the difference of his old bed and the bed at the penthouse, not realizing the rustling of a panicked, surprised sister in the opposite room.

* * *

Another envelope waits for Nate as he arrives at the second floor. A single piece of soft blue fabric folded neatly is crumpled into his tense hand as he drops it to knock at the first door he sees, continuing relentlessly. Half of the doors are unanswered and locked but he plows on, knocking and trying door knobs.

Close to the end of the hallway, he sees an open door, inviting him in with wide arms. His breath catches. He walks quietly over, peeking inside, his eyes wide, his heart pounding, his hands trembling. He rushes forward, forgetting to survey the rest of the room for the other 'blond', but brushes the real Serena's cheek and releases a breath he didn't even know he had held in. His hand, palm up, is chilled instantly on her cheek. Nate frowns, but he can feel her breathing.

He surveys the grimy room with soiled curtains, an old sofa and coffee table and a door leading to the bathroom. Then he spots the copious mass of pill containers on the side tables and jumps up to look. He takes one up in his hand and reads it with growing horror. He goes through the rest of the bottles, reading the labels, opening them one by one. All empty. He glances at Serena in her unnatural pallor. His hand finds a barely-there, agonizingly slow heartbeat, noticing as he does that she's still wearing her blue dress, albeit slightly ripped. He shakes her bone cold shoulders and yells her name. He reaches for his cell phone, hand shaking, but a tremor of sound coming from the bathroom disrupts him.

He could hit himself for forgetting that someone is responsible for doing this to envelopes. Shit. He looks around for an impromptu weapon, but finds none. Nate creeps slowly toward the bathroom. He jumps in the door frame and sees nothing but air. He checks everywhere in the small bathroom, but the window is open and stairs are revealed on the side of the building. Not a single person is within sight, and he retreats to the bedroom, cursing himself for wasting time when Serena needed help. To his surprise, Serena's eyes are open.

* * *

Dan never remembers his dreams, but this one is one that he would not forget. He saw Serena's sad eyes, open this time, and Nate's flashing ones, them arguing, then two cars racing one another, James Bond style. Nate launches himself out of the car with a snarl and drags Serena out of the car by her hair, twisting cruelly. He beats her senseless, eliciting screams that reverberates in his skull. Dan wakes up from his heavy sleep, panting and sweating.

He checks his bedside clock and groans. It's winter break at NYU, but he's grown accustomed to waking up at 6 to make the early morning commute to catch the first class. He checks his cell phone, and finding it dead, charges it. He launches himself up out of bed, walking like a zombie into the kitchen to get some coffee.

He sees the door to Jenny's room is open, and reminds himself to call her later to see what's going on in Hudson while she lives with their mom. Before that, however, Dan is determined to get answers from Blair and Chuck on the whereabouts of Nate and Serena. He won't take anything less than the truth, even if that truth is hard for him to hear. He hears the familiar beep of his cell phone go off, signifying a voice mail from someone. His heart leaps. Serena.

* * *

Nate immediately rushes over. "You're awake!" he exclaims, clutching her hand. Her blue eyes are clouded and woozy and turn on his own matching eyes with alarming hurt. She struggles to get up but can't find the energy to.

"Why..." she breathes, before closing her eyes and starting again. "I, " she licks her parched lips, "called the police." Her words are dotted by short breaths, as if she can't get enough air in between them. She intakes a large breath as he grows more confused. "It's over, Nate."

His eyes, befuddled, gaze into Serena's. "Serena. What are you talking about? You're not making any sen-" His words are cut off by the presence of a fully uniformed SWAT team-complete with bullet-proof vests and helmets with visors- pointing numerous guns at him and screaming at him to move away from the girl and to put his hands up. Nate realizes with a start what the situation looked like, and he releases Serena's hands, stepping away with his hands up. Damn. He needs to explain himself.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Dan's heart drops with disappointment when he sees the penthouse number along with a string of other unknown numbers have left voicemails on his cell phone, but none that he recognize as phones Serena would use. Sighing, as he prepares himself to go against Blair and Chuck, he first dials his voicemail. The clipped voice informs him of no less than 20 voicemails awaiting him. He scrunches his brow in confusion as he awaits the first message, recorded from an unfamiliar number.

"Dan, for God's sake, why is your phone turned off? I've used up all my phone battery trying to get a hold of you. Lily and I have no idea where you are and we don't have time to look for you or explain. Just hurry down the St. Anne's Hospital, okay?" Lily's voice came faintly, urging her husband to hurry up. "Serena's here and you have to be here. I love you, don't panic, everything will be fine, just get down here. Bye."

Dan's coat is on and he's out the door running with his cell phone still clutched between his shoulder and ear as soon as he hears "Serena".

* * *

Her brain is foggy. Very foggy. It's spinning, like a globe tilting every which way on a loose axis. She feels unbalanced, as if at any time she might slip off a tightrope and fall. That sense of panic hits, and Serena tries violently to get up, but finds everything is black beneath her shut eyelids, and that the condition isn't improving any time soon. Her belly clenches, and she opens her mouth to scream. She is trapped her eyelids aren't opening everything is dark she doesn't know where she is or what has happened she needs help she needs to make the darkness go away but how.

A keen screeching of heart monitor finally registers with her mile-a-minute heartbeat, and she peels her eyelids open. The sterile whiteness of a hospital is cold and unfamiliar and only serves to panic Serena even more. A nurse comes in from nowhere and rushes to her side, telling her to calm down and breathe. Her breath still comes in shuddering gasps, and her eyes still refuse to close, lest she be trapped in blackness again, but she slows her heartbeat while the nurse explains that she has been unconscious for a while, and that she is alright and just needs rest.

* * *

Nate walks down the length of the dingy hallway, knowing there is nothing he can say while he is being escorted out of the crime scene that can convince the armored SWAT team of his innocence. In a moment of sheer panic, he almost laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of an entire team, machine guns, bulletproof vest, helmets galore, storming a hotel for a kidnapping, but remembers the handcuffs encircling his wrists. This part of Queens must really be dangerous for the police to have a SWAT team for kidnappers. They approach the stairs while vice-like hands grab his arms to steady him.

"I didn't do this to Serena, you have to believe me! She's one of my best friends, just let me go and find the real people who did this. Look, there's even-" Mid-sentence, Nate looks down at his feet and realizes the envelopes are not where he crumpled them in anger and dropped them. Those would go a long way in proving his innocence, but they had disappeared. He roams his eyes around the entire area but could not see any evidence of them. Nobody even looked at him while he was speaking anyway. They probably have heard far more tirades from other criminals to pay him any mind.

He shakes his head in frustration as the bottom stairwell yields the disappearances of the envelope and the dress, which could support his claim that he only wanted to save Serena from an imposter. He doesn't dare ask anything until they question him, however. A tall police officer exchanges a couple of words with the armored SWAT leader, then turns to Nate. He gives evidence of his credentials and identifies himself as Officer Steven Pine.

"Sir, this is all a big mis-"

"You are being arrested for the kidnapping and illicit drugging of Serena van der Woodsen. Failure to comply with this arrest is an offence against federal law. You have the right to remain silent, even if we ask any questions, do you understand that?"

"You guys have the wrong person, why won't anyone acknowledge that? I've known Serena since we've been kids! I didn't do this to her, and you're letting whoever did get away with it!" Nate struggles to contain his temper, but John Pine just proceeds to put a hand on his head and push him into the cruiser, none too gently.

* * *

Dan bursts into the hospital, panting. A weekday morning commute during rush hour takes longer than an eternity. He had just leaped out of a cab, furious after waiting close to 25 minutes in a traffic jam and ran the last 14 blocks, arriving panting and face numb from the cold. He forces himself to walk the 10 feet to the counter, asking, none too enunciated, which room Serena van der Woodsen is in, before explaining he is her step-brother. He winces. He will never get used to saying that. The nurse, albeit looking a little bit worried at his deep breathing, tells him that his parents had just gone in to see her as Serena just woke up. She would've continued, but Dan cuts her off, impatient. "What room?"

"If you would let me finish, young man. She is in room 409, but I'm afraid you can't go in just yet. She is stable, but needs sufficient amounts of both peace and rest to fully return to ship-shape condition. The doctor placed a three visitor at a time limit to ensure she doesn't feel overwhelmed. Right now, your parents are in there, as well as a police officer to ask her some questions. That's more than enough going on for your sister in there, so I'm going to have to ask you to take a seat in the waiting room to your right. Thank you." Her voice is curt, clearly dismissing him as impertinent for his rude interruption. He mentally berates himself. Calm down, Dan, Serena's okay for right now, even if she's being questioned by a police officer.

"Uh, I'm very sorry. I'm just really worried about her. Can you tell me what happened?"

"I don't think I should be the one to tell you. She's not in any trouble; just wait for your parents in the waiting room. But all you need to know right now is that your sister is not in any danger anymore." Her voice contains a considerable amount of warmth now, and so Dan musters a wan smile before walking to the waiting room. Her words scare him. What can Serena be involved in that required a police officer present in her hospital room? Or that use of the word 'anymore'. That has to imply she was in danger before. What are the extent of her injuries? He has so many questions and so many worries.

And in the waiting room, he will find some answers.

* * *

Serena smiles wearily as Lily and Rufus stride into the rather dim hospital room.

"Hey." She says, simply.

Lily pulls the corners of her mouth up, but with no little amount of concern and guilt. "I'm so sorry, honey."

Serena frowns, confused. She hadn't had a chance to ask the nurse what exactly happened to her before the lady had made sure she felt adequate enough for visitors and scurried out to inform her parents they could come in. "What happened, Mom? I don't remember much. I remember some of the party..." She catches sight of a tall, ginger-haired man hovering awkwardly in the corner, having come in with her parents. Her heart drops.

The man speaks. "Hi, Miss van der Woodsen. I'm Detective Gary Little. Are you feeling better?" His voice, identified as Gary Little by a visitor's tag, is detached, yet not quite cold.

She jerks her head down and up once as an answer.

"I'm with NYPD, just have some questions to ask you, if that's okay with you."

Serena's voice is tentative, hiding an undercurrent of worry. What did she done? Did she overdose? She can't remember anything. She clears her throat and opens her mouth to speak, trying to regain a modicum of confidence in her raw voice. "That should be fine. I don't think I can help with whatever it is. I don't remember much. Just what happened before the party. And just a little bit during." Her voice fades off as she remembered exactly why she felt a faint but definite niggle to stop talking to Lily. Her throat has a knot as she turns her head away from her mother, staring resolutely away at the opposite wall.

"Miss van der Woodsen? Would you mind telling me what just made you upset?" His voice is uncomfortably inquisitive.

Serena could not resist letting out some of the anger and disappointment in Lily out, even if it meant revealing some rather awkward material. "I told my mother the truth, that I didn't sleep with my teacher at Columbia. She chose not to believe me when she got blackmailed into paying off the blackmail-er for their supposed silence, when nothing happened." She turns the full force of her gaze on the officer, who flushes. "I'm telling the truth."

"Mrs. van der Woodsen, blackmail is a serious, punishable offence. If you want to file a report, I would be happy to do that for you."

Lily sighs, but declines his offer. "No, Officer, we just want to put the whole business behind us. Right now, I just want to find out who did this to my daughter." She shifts her gaze from Serena to a point on the tiled floor. If Serena met her mother's eyes, she would've seen inexplicable pain and guilt of a mother suffering. But instead, she chose to see a cold, untrusting ice bitch that refused to meet her daughter's accusing gaze for shame.

The detective looks between the pair and scribbles on his note pad furiously before Rufus, long forgotten by all three in the room, steps in as a silent peace maker, lightly touching Lily's shoulder to make her eyes connect with his. Her pained eyes silently relax, and they all waited, no sound piercing the solid tension in the room.

The next words are a knife to the tension, slicing it in half as both Serena and Lily's attentions are quickly diverted.

"Could you recount to me the exact details of what you remember of your night?" His voice holds little patience for Serena, for whom he now has passed off as another Upper East Side teenager.

Serena, sighing as she hears his tone of voice, explains what she remembers.

She had entered the party with no trouble, arriving slightly late as her dress was suddenly damaged, she was told. Carolina Herrera herself had told her they would rush alter a different size of the same dress to fit her, at the cost of being something like two hours late to the she finally did arrive, she was told someone had entered already as Serena and delayed her another fifteen minutes. She had barely entered the room when Blair accosted her, accusing Serena of betraying her yet again. Serena cannot resist an eyeroll at this when telling her story but resumes her serious composure and continues haltingly, based on a flicker or two of memories of stepping outside on the chilled New York evening. She stops then. "I don't remember anything else. Please tell me you know what happened." Her voice is beseeching, her eyes boring into him.

"Let me tell you what I know, and we'll see if it jogs your memory, alright?" He checks his notebook, which he had furiously scribbled in for the duration of her recollection, and commences. "The mask you had on contained traces of a certain type of drug which caused you to become woozy and sleepy and unaware of your surroundings. This would've worn off in a couple of hours, but, by that time, you were situated without a fuss in the motel room in Queens, where you were given an enormous combination of prescription drugs. It was very nearly deadly, but you managed to make a phone call to 911 while your kidnapper must've been out of the room that got us there in time."

Serena sags into the hospital bed and whispers, "Somebody did that to me?"

"Yes. We have somebody in custody right now and I'm afraid you're familiar with-"

Here he is abruptly cut off by a insincerely sanguine voice that entreats him to speak for a moment in private. The police officer frowns, setting his teeth, and marches with the Upper East Sider to a space somewhat away from Serena's hearing distance but resolutely refuses to be led outside despite the commanding mother. Regardless of their hushed voices, she is downwind of one or two of self explanatory words that utterly defeat her. She curls up on her side, hiding her whimpers, facing away from the mother who will never trust her to be strong enough.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hope you all are sufficiently intrigued enough to continue! Leave a review if you feel passionately about Dan or Nate . . . or neither!


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Nate groans as the police officer yanks him out of the cruiser. The officer doesn't give an inch however, as he grabs Nate's arm and leads him inside of the police station. Nate is left standing with two rather stout and pudgy officers on either side of him, as Pine stalks toward the desk. An officer hands him a clipboard. Nate resists the urge to break free of his officers and demand they listen to his side of the story, which is the truth. Nobody seems interested in listening to what he has to say; yet, all he needs is to explain that his intentions were the exact opposite of what they're thinking. Pine walks over with the clipboard, and Nate instantly becomes alert.

"Name?"

"Nathaniel Fitzwilliam Archibald. Hey-"

"Birthday?"

"April 5th, 1991. I just-"

"Address?"

"Why won't anyone listen to me? I need to-"

"Address, please."

Nate sighs. "9283 9th Avenue. Manhattan."

"Any previous offences?"

"None."

Their exchange is interrupted by the entrance of a suited man, whom all three officers greet as "detective." He hands the clipboard over to the detective, and Nate's directed to an empty room with a security camera in a corner and an empty table with a few chairs. The officers leaves, and he's alone with the decidedly average looking, formally suited up "detective". He can't help thinking of Chuck's everyday attire, but this man can't even begin to compare to the perfectly tailored, multi-thousand dollar suits that Chuck Bass wears on a daily basis. The man gestures for Nate to sit in a proffered chair. He himself forgoes the chair to perch on the table, a slight distance from Nate. He squints at Nate for a few seconds, then begins talking.

"My name is Senior Detective Rob Kwychowski."

Nate almost expects a heavy New York accent, à la black and white crime movies.

The detective continues, oblivious, "Mr. Archibald, you should know that we only need a little bit more evidence to bring you to court for second degree kidnapping and drugging, which, if you're convicted, can put you in jail for 10 years or more. Cooperate with our questions, and we'll make sure that gets in your file." Decidedly frank, he says. "You're going to have to get fingerprinted. You aren't in our system, not even for a misdemeanor. For a nineteen year old in this day and age, damn it all, it seems like that's more than any parent should ask." He shakes his head ruefully before an unfamiliar officer walks in with a fingerprinting kit. He grabs Nate's hand, squishing a digit onto the stamp press before repeating the process with a piece of marked paper. He repeats this action on all five fingers before switching to his left hand. He gathers up the paper and kit and leaves as quickly as he came in. Nate resists the urge to wipe his ink stained fingers on his Dior tuxedo pants.

"So. You probably have a version of what happened. I wanna hear it. Tell me your side of the story."

Nate looks up at him, a relieved expression crossing his face. He tries to gauge the man before speaking. "I swear to God I didn't do it."

At this, the detective snorts. "You gotta do better than that."

Nate forges on, ignoring the man. "I'll tell you everything that happened that night. But you have to promise me to keep an open mind, because I know how it sounds." He leans forward while he speaks, leveling an intense blue gaze at the man.

"Aight, kid, go on." Nonetheless, the detective does not sound convinced.

Nate relays the events of his night, detail by detail. He explains his relationship with Serena, and hopes while he's speaking the complex story doesn't seem too fantastical to the detective. When he finishes, mouth dry, the detective has his eyebrows raised.

"Kid. . ." he rubs his chin thoughtfully. "I know all sorts of liars in this line of work." But then he shakes his head. "But I can tell you probably aren't one of them. Or, you could be one of the best I've ever met. " He glances at Nate once, before getting up from his seat, the corners of his mouth creasing in concentration. "You're lucky that I know the bad nuts from the good nuts," he consults his sheet for Nate's name. "Nate. And that I see that you care about this Serena. But it's just a hunch. I'll need proof, and you aren't budgin' until I'm sure of what you were up to the last 12 hours." Rob rubs the bridge of his nose in exhaustion. "We're going to need a lot more time than the four hours we're legally supposed to detain you." He exits the room, yelling, "Pine! Get the judge on the phone. We're going to have to hold the suspect for more than four hours."

* * *

Dan exhales as Rufus and Lily enter the waiting room with furrowed brows that cap weary eyes. His shoulders rise in worry as he sees Lily's eyes are red. A tall, broad officer in plainclothes trails behind, a notepad giving away his detective status, an image that unsettles him further.

Dan leaps up. "Dad! What's going on? Is Serena okay?" Rufus looks at Dan for a moment before replying, the crow's feet on his face appearing in higher definition than Dan remembers in recent history.

"She's fine for now, but I want to get everyone here until we say what happened. Lil called Eric and Chuck already, but call whoever of Serena's friends that you think would want to be here, you know, Blair, anyone else. Jenny would probably only cause trouble drama by coming down from Hudson, so let's just keep it on a need-to-know basis for now, okay?" He rubs his face before turning to the officer. "We might be able to get the guest list from Serena's stepbrother, Chuck Bass, who threw the party last night. We'll be sure to notify you when he arrives."

"Dad, I need to know what happened to Serena! Don't make me wait another hour. Please. I've been waiting all night to find out what happened to her and Nate," Dan can no longer hold in his frustration and preoccupation.

"What do you mean all night? And how do you-" Rufus blows a long breath out and rubs at the bags underneath his eyes. "Dan, just be patient with us, alright? Eric and the others have a right to know what happened as well, and Lil and I are exhausted from waiting too. We've been here since five AM, but they only just let us in to see us. Just sit tight." He put a hand up to all Dan's heated protests. Lily sags into a waiting room chair, graceful carriage gone. Rufus, still grasping her hand, squeezes it.

"Come on Lil. Let's go grab some coffee. Dan, hold down the fort for a couple of minutes and wait for the others here, okay? We'll be back in a few." Lily leans into Rufus and they walk out.

Dan turns away, beyond baffled, pulling out his cell phone. He calls Blair first, knowing she would put aside any animosity for him once "Serena" and "hospitalized" is mentioned. She hangs up so fast he's left saying her name into the receiver, confused, before he realizes she's already on her way over. He looks at his cellphone again, hesitating, before dialing Nate. He lets it ring for a short while before he hits 'end'. He doesn't particularly want to talk to him, and it didn't seem like Nate was going to answer, either.

Blair is the first to arrive, wrapped in a long satin bathrobe and slippers. Her lingerie is kept under wraps for once. Her eyes are wild and filled with concern. Her eyes alight on Dan, and she rushes over.

"Where is she? What happened? Can we visit? I need to see her!"

He can barely manage to discern her words, they're spoken so fast.

"She's in Room 409. I don't know what happened. Rufus won't tell me until everyone is here. I don't know if we can visit. They're only letting in three people at a time, and Rufus told me to stay put for everyone else. So far Lily, Rufus and that policeman have been able to visit her."

"Police? What the hell is going on, Humphrey?"

"Hell if I know. I'm just as worried as you are, Blair. Here's Eric and Chuck."

Chuck and Blair avoid each other's gaze, but ask flat out about Serena. Dan tells them all he knows, that his dad hasn't told him anything, that Serena's injured somehow, and that the police are involved.

"Where are Mom and Rufus anyway?" Eric asks, a furrow creasing between his brows.

"Getting coffee."

"Where's Nathaniel?" Chuck says.

Three pairs of eyes look at Dan. He shifts uncomfortably. "I called him once, but he didn't answer. I was hoping you guys would call him again. We're not exactly the best of friends right now."

Blair rolls her eyes but pulls out her cell phone and speed-dials Nate. They all wait in silence. Then Blair's eyebrows raise.

"Excuse me? Who is this? I'm looking for Nate Archibald." Some indiscernible muttering from the other end ensues. Everyone leans in, trying to make sense of the voice. Blair's face is one of complete shock. She lowers the cell phone down and presses "speakerphone". She motions everyone forward. "I'm sorry, could you repeat what you just said?"

"Nathaniel Archibald is a suspect in a police case as of three o'clock this morning. His phone is being used in relation to a search for possible evidence and/or eyewitnesses. This is Officer Steven Pine of the Brooklyn division of NYPD. To whom am I speaking?"

The tension and surprise from everyone in the huddle around Blair's phone are enough to fill a house. Blair breaks out of their shared reverie to reply sharply.

"I'm with a group of people right now, and we're all friends of Nate's. Does this have anything to do with Serena van der Woodsen?" Her free hand is inadvertently clutching Chuck's arm. Dan thinks he caught a small smile cross Chuck's lips before he wipes his expression clean again.

"Yes, we're currently investigating the van der Woodsen case. Were you at Chuck Bass's party last night?"

"Yes, we all were there."

Dan catches Blair's attention and gestures to the detective lounging in the waiting room.

She nods once, squinting at the name tag. "We're actually friends with Serena too. We're all waiting to see her at St. Anne's Hospital. Someone named, uhm, Gary Little is here."

"Detective Little? That's perfect. Can I have your name? I'll give him a call and have him ask a few questions. "

"My name is Blair Waldorf."

"Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Waldorf. Goodbye."

She ends the call, almost dropping it as she shoves it back into her bag. "What did stupid Nate do? Oh my God." She clutches Chuck's arm even tighter, but suddenly realizing the positioning of her hand, whips it away, refusing to acknowledge anything just happened.

"We're going to get to the bottom of this, Blair. Nate didn't do this. I'm positive," Chuck says, his heavy brows knitted together belying his words. His best friend, part of a police investigation. He isn't sure what to make it of yet, either.

Eric and Blair brighten at Chuck's words, but Dan's skeptical. He knows what he saw that night. The cabs, the look on _his_ face. He shakes his head, as if to shake the thoughts out of his head as Rufus and Lily come back with steaming cups of coffee. If Nate hurt Serena, he'll pay. Dan would make sure himself that Nate paid, regardless of any amity he felt towards Nate in the past.

"Dad! Lily! Nate's been arrested. What the hell is going on? You have to tell us what happened. Everyone's here." Dan's question is the last lucid question before everyone begins clamoring, words jumbling into a twisted mass. The couple stops in their tracks, alarmed.

Rufus regains full use of his speech to ask, "How did you guys know about Nate?"

"You told me to call Serena's friends from Chuck's party. They took Nate's cell phone and when we called, it went through to an officer."

Rufus mutters "shit", sighs, and sits down heavily on the waiting room chairs with Lily. The foursome automatically surround them, silently begging to know. He bats them away. "Take a seat." Dan and Eric sit next to their parents and Blair and Chuck sit opposite them.

Rufus starts to speak, but Lily lays a hand on his shoulder and wordlessly takes over.

"Yesterday, sometime after the party, Serena was given a heavy sedative and taken to a motel in Queens. She was administered an almost lethal combination of drugs. A number of small bottles were found completely empty, pills all forced down her throat." Her breath catches, and she is forced to stop. Blair puts her face in her hands, and Chuck is rubbing her back, face full of cool, glassy anger. Eric stares seemingly impassive at a distant wall, but his intense eyes reveal his boiling feelings. Dan's head is bowed, eyes hooded.

Lily continues,"Thankfully, the particular types of prescription medication given to her were not very strong, just combined with some over the counter medication. Her life was spared. She didn't have any permanent damage done to her liver or any other parts of her body, but she took tens and tens of pills, so she had to get her stomach pumped. However, according to the doctor, there still could be vestiges of drugs left in her body. Until those drugs go completely out of her system, it's not safe for her to get sick or tired. So we have to be careful." She releases a large sigh, reminding herself how much upset she had made her daughter just minutes before. "Which leads me to the next thing. How Serena was found. Apparently, she regained consciousness, and her kidnapper didn't realize it, because she found the strength to call 911. A SWAT team was called in. Nate was the only one in the room apart from Serena. They almost have enough evidence to officially charge him, since Nate's fingerprints were found all over the pill bottles. All they need are witnesses now."

Chuck speaks. "Nathaniel isn't capable of something like this. He didn't do it." He shakes his head. "It's not possible."

Blair and Eric agree, readily.

Dan spies the glint in Blair's eyes. Oh shit. "Blair. Leave this to the police."

"What are you talking about, Humphrey?" She looks up at him under her eyelashes, feigning innocence as usual. He sighs and turns back to Lily.

"The officer on the phone on the phone told us that officer," Dan points over to the man in question, "will be asking us a few questions."

Lily nods her head, exhausted. "Three visitors at a time if you go visit Serena." She stands and looks pointedly at the four of them. "Do not mention Nate. Lie if you have to. She doesn't need to deal yet with the stress that will come if she finds out one of her best friends could've done this to her. We'll tell her later, for her own good." The look in her eye is impossible to argue with. They all shift uncomfortably, but acquiesce reluctantly. The four turn to each other.

"Who gets to visit Serena first?" Eric says, looking around at the group. Blair smiles tightly without showing any teeth. Her eyes fall on Dan.

"Brooklyn can stay here. Let's go." She walks off, and all Chuck and Eric do is look at each other, shrug and follow her. Dan stops his half-formed, "Hey!", knowing it would do no good.

"Excuse me? Was that just Blair Waldorf? I'm Detective Constable Gary Little." The detective who had been sitting patiently in the waiting room for some time now approaches him and flashes his badge.

"Oh, hey, yeah, that was Blair. Dan Humphrey. I'm Serena's, uh, friend, but I also know Nate. The rest of our group went to visit Serena."

"That's okay. Do you mind if I ask you a few questions then?"

"No, that's fine. Ask away."

"So you were at the party last night. Did you see Serena? Talk with her at all? Anything out of the ordinary?"

Dan briefly thinks about his vague suspicion at the time that whoever kissed him wasn't Serena, but banishes it. Blair said it was Serena, and not even Dan can argue that Blair doesn't know Serena well.

"Well, yes. The truth is she kissed me, but I didn't get a chance to talk to her because she left as soon as she kissed me."

"I see. Is she your girlfriend?"

"Not exactly. It's complicated. Nate and I have been competing for Serena, in a way. She sent us a text yesterday saying she would choose at the party. I didn't know if her kissing me meant she chose me or not, because she left. Or was taken, rather. " The detective, who was scribbling in his notebook, pauses for a long moment with a slow nod.

Dan is confused for a second before it dawns on him that he just provided the motive for Nate. The detective, however, closes off his face, and Dan can't read his expression. "Can you tell me where you went after the party?"

"Yeah, I took a cab to the van der Woodsen's penthouse to see if Serena had come home. I talked to Lily." Here he waves to the person in question, who is talking in low tones to his dad, catching her attention. "I talked to you last night, do you remember?"

"Yes, Daniel. Around 12:30 or so. We talked for a while and then you fell asleep on the counter. I placed a blanket over you. I heard you leave at quarter to 3, perhaps? I couldn't sleep." She looks on worriedly before Dan turns back to the detective.

"Then I went to our old loft in Brooklyn and slept until my dad called me to say Serena was in the hospital."

The officer nods once. "You've got an alibi then, since the amount of drugs absorbed in her system places the drugging between 2-3. Did you notice anything else at the party?"

Dan hesitates. He supposes it is a good thing the others aren't here, because they would have beat him over the head for his next words.

"Actually, I saw Serena one more time, although she didn't see me." He rubs his hand through his hair. "She was sitting in a cab. I couldn't really see her face, but she didn't seem happy. I saw her cab leave, then Nate jumped into a cab and went in the same direction." He digs around in his pocket and draws out his cell phone. He pulls up Gossip Girl and shows the picture. The detective's eyes widen fractionally, and he resumes his scribbling, making sure to copy down Gossip Girl's web address. He finishes and offers Dan a handshake.

"You've been helpful. Thank you, Dan. Do you mind if you go ahead and send your friends back here? I want to finish up asking questions." Dan nods and strides off toward #409. He pushes open the door to encounter Blair holding Serena's hand, Chuck standing close by, and Eric sitting on the other side, concern and love evident. Chuck and Blair hover too closely to Serena for him to see her clearly. He raps twice on the door to catch their attention.

"Sorry to interrupt, but the detective wants to get the interrogation over with. He wants you three." All three of them shoot him the identical look as they detach themselves, all meaning the same thing: don't upset her. Don't discuss it. Don't do it. He glares at them before he shuffles past them to Serena.

The first thing that registers is that she looks distinctly unhealthy and pale. Her under-eyes have the appearance of being bruised. Her lips are a pale pink, not the dusky rose hue that is usually imbued on said mouth. She struggles to sit up a bit, tugging too hard on the transparent cords coming out of her skin. She winces and gives up. She finally makes eye contact with Dan, smiling ruefully. "Sorry."

Dan's knuckles turn white as his hands clench in fists, his fingernails digging into his palms. Dan gives her an anxious look."What are you apologizing for?" He clenches his fists harder underneath the hospital bed before adding. "Nate, uh, went to his grandparents, so he'll take a while before he gets here, and my dad doesn't want Jenny to come down from Hudson, so don't worry about that either. I know you don't get along. " He smiles tightly at her. "How are you doing? Feeling okay?"

Serena stretches a pale arm to grasp his hand. "I'm fine."

Dan raises a curious eyebrow at the detached shortness of her reply. "What's wrong?"

Serena smiles a genuine smile, though not a big one. "You always see right through me." She tilts her head back when Dan refuses to change the subject and accept the answer. "All three of them were keeping something from me. Then my mom told the ginger policeman to keep something from me. And I see you trying to hide something. What is everyone trying to hush up?" Her eyes connect with his. Her blue eyes are on their proverbial knees, begging. When Dan only stands dumbfounded, unable to deny or acknowledge, she lifts a limp arm to her face, covering his visage and ignoring the pain the tugging of the cords gives her.

"Then leave. I don't want any more lies. I'm lying in a hospital bed, clueless, and the only thing I want is _why_ and yet nobody will tell me what they're hiding."

Dan opens his mouth but shuts it abruptly. She's right. He can't lie to her. He can never pull it off. But he cares too damn much about her to tell the straight truth. The truth would hurt her, rip her open, and he can't find the strength to do that right now to the girl he loves. He turns on his heel and leaves.

* * *

Nate looks up as the detective reenters the room after about two long hours. He never believed he could get so bored. The only thing that stopped him from tearing his hair out with cuffed hands was that sporadically, his thoughts would turn to the pain he's bringing Serena as she wonders what had come over him to do such a thing to her. No doubt somebody will tell her he's a hair away from being sentenced ten years or more to jail for kidnapping and drugging her. He also wishes luck to the person who decides against informing his mother of his so called deeds. Chuck can handle her though. She's always been prey to his relentless charm. But still, no doubt, she would storm down and try to pay his way out of it, no matter of his guilt or innocence, just to save face like she's trying to do with his father.

Nate sees the detective gesture at the two policemen that accompany him to stop and enters the room alone. He sits down on the table, twisting to face Nate.

"That's it then. We just interviewed witnesses from the party, and no less than five gave both eye witness accounts and picture evidence from that one website you talked about. You were seen chasing after the girl in a cab, and shortly after, she was drugged. The timeframe works." He drums his fingers on the table. Nate can tell he was trying to stall.

"Kid, I hate to tell you this, but you're on your way to a trial, no doubt about that. We got more time from the judge, but we've used it up. Your story might have hung tight with me, but it's not gonna hold up shit in trial. You gotta get a good lawyer." He clasps Nate's slumped shoulders. "I hope you'll win the case. I really do. But right now you're going to be put in a holding cell until your trial. It hasn't been scheduled yet. Do you want to contact anybody for bail? You've got one phone call. We said you weren't a flight risk, so it was set at 25 grand. Pocket change for people like you, eh?"

After some thought, Nate shakes his head dejectedly. Twenty-five grand, admittedly, is a small sum of money for people like him, and he's sure Chuck would pay it in a heartbeat to help him out. The last he wants, though, is for his mother to bail him out and accuse him of emulating his father and "acting out" because of the divorce, nor does he want to face the media shit show in New York for his arrest and for everyone to accuse him of something he can't prove he didn't do. He shuts his eyes, leaning forward and burying his head in his hands. He'll call Chuck later, but firstly, he needs to sort his thoughts out before he stepped into the maelstrom outside.

The detective waves over the policemen, and Nate stands up. He is led out by the arm of the main police station area into a dimly lit area with 4 cells, each with two cots. The detective releases him from his fetters when he is inside one of the cells. He nods at him and walks out wordlessly, shutting the door behind him with a foreboding clang.

Nate looks at his "room". What a far cry from what he is used to. He leans against the dirty wall, forehead pressing against the surface. He bangs his fists against the wall repeatedly, unsure of what would happen next. He reaches for the collar of his white shirt and tie, unbuttoning his top button and loosening his black tie. He hadn't noticed it choking him until now, as there was nothing to wait for and nothing to do. He sinks into the creaky bed. He realizes that none of this wouldn't have happened if he hadn't wanted to play hero and rescue Serena. But even as he thinks long and hard of the consequences that have befallen him for doing so, he couldn't bring himself to regret his actions. What if Serena hadn't woken up? Then he would've been her last hope before dying of an overdose. He shakes his head at the thought.

* * *

 **A/N:** If you're enjoying the story, please continue to read! New chapters will be posted soon. Tell me what you think in a review.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Please leave a review if you feel so inclined-I really adore reading them! Just a short one today; I'll probably post another one in a little bit.

 **Chapter 5**

Dan stalks down the length of the hallway towards the waiting room, catching sight of Blair Waldorf's suspicious eyes on him. He forgot he had been in Serena's hospital room for little more than five minutes before she kicked him out. He stops in his trek towards the other three, a furtive glance crossing his face. Is this really the right way to protect Serena? If anything, this, what all of them were doing now, is what can hurt her the most. She'll worry, and worry some more, and then to what end? For her to find out slightly later, with the added hurt that her closest friends and family all conspired to keep something this enormous from her?

Finding out Nate, her childhood friend and sometimes, maybe, boyfriend, is the prime suspect in her case will take time to accept, but it will be less damaging than knowing everyone around her is deliberately keeping something from her. He'll break a promise to Lily, but maybe, he knows Serena a little bit more than she does, nowadays. Still, Dan hesitates. Does he really have the right? Should he be the one to tell?

He takes one more uncertain step forward to the waiting room, but his mind is turning over and over. He lets a long breath out as he stops in the middle of the corridor, his decision made. His logic is sound-or at least, he sure as hell hopes it is. He can feel Blair's baleful, questioning eyes on him, waiting to rip his head off, but his mind is made. Dan Humphrey may not have the right to tell her, but Serena van der Woodsen sure as hell has the right to know who did this to her.

He makes his way back to her room quickly, before Blair turns into a charging bull, if bulls wore spike heels, and enters again, closing the doors softly behind him with a click. He turns around to face Serena, a little apprehensively. She stares at him wordlessly as he walks back in, not a small amount of hurt, anger, and confusion in her eyes. He takes a deep breath.

"We all promised Lily we wouldn't tell you. But I think you have a right to know. Nate-he was there when you were found. His fingerprints were all over the pill bottles. He's in custody right now." Serena stares at him. Her expression is one best described as utterly dazed.

"Nate...?" Her voice is only a whisper. He leans in to catch it before it's drowned out by the humming of the machines surrounding her. He doesn't know whether she expects an answer or not, so he stays silent. He watches then, confused, helpless, immobile, as something comes over her face, a dawn of recognition better described as a midnight of recognition.

"I remember now...oh my God." She presses fists into her eyes. A whimper breaks through her lips. Dan moves closer, reaching with his hand to take hers in wordless comfort.

But she curls up as he approaches, rolling onto her side away from him. "Please, just go. I'm sorry."

This is one hurt he can do nothing to ease. Nate was a friend, a good one, to Serena long before he stepped in as her first love, and Dan can't possibly say or do anything to comfort her. He watches, helpless as her back is wracked with sobs that she fought to control. What's wrong with him? Why had he told? Overtaken, he sprints out of the room, cursing and berating himself. He couldn't think of anything worse than seeing her like that. Even if it means lying.

* * *

Several hours later, Serena lies curled up on her side, drained completely of tears. She tells the kind nurse to refuse all visitors, and the nurse simply accepts her red eyes and her entire ordeal for a good enough reason. She still has hiccuping sobs that threaten to rob her of all breath in her body. But she's not really, truly mad at anyone but herself-she cringes as she remembers how poorly she dismissed Dan, when he was the only one to tell her what everyone else was too afraid to. Why hadn't she remembered what happened in that motel?

Regardless of the reason, Serena remembers now. She remembers waking up in that dingy place feeling like she was paralyzed from the neck down. She had glanced down, bleary eyed and panicked, but seeing that everything was intact, gathered most of her thoughts but couldn't help a terrified scream. Yet the scream had come out silent, as she realized there was somebody in the room with her making noise, most likely in the bathroom, since she couldn't see who it was. She tried calming her erratic hyperventilating and attempted moving her limbs. She could, thankfully, though they felt extraordinarily heavy. She recognized the feeling from her old days of partying, the dead weight hangover in the morning after feeling high as a cloud for hours. She concentrated all of her energy on moving her arm to the hotel phone that she spied, arm so weighed down she felt as if 100 pounds were strapped on to the appendage. She finally reached the phone, picking it up, almost gasping at the effort. She set the phone down for a few seconds, in favor of pressing the buttons, not finding the energy to move her other arm to dial 911. She pulled back her arm agonizingly, putting the receiver to her ear. A voice stated, "911, what is your emergency?"

She formed words with her mouth but could not find the breath to make the sounds.

"Hello?"

She tried again and found success, albeit throaty success.

"I think I've been drugged. I just woke up, and I don't remember getting here." She wet her lips, keeping her voice pitched to a whisper. "There's somebody in the bathroom. Please help me. Please."

"Ma'am, we'll be right there. Just hang on tight, okay? We're tracking your location. Hang up the phone quietly now-SWAT team is on its way. You're going to be alright."

Serena remembers hanging up the phone, muscles warming up enough so that it didn't feel so much like weightlifting anymore. She remembers seeing Nate exit the bathroom ten or fifteen minutes later and looking at her. She hadn't find the energy to be truly surprised. Serena didn't remember much after that, but the image of Nate in his tux was one clearly recalled.

She can't find it in herself to understand. She can't understand why Nate would do such a thing to her. She tightens her muscles, clenching into an even tighter ball and tries to breath through her nose.

The nurse finished with her clipboard checks and pats Serena's tangled blonde mane. "It'll be okay, sweetie. Just try to sleep now, it's pretty late. I'm dimming the lights."

Serena nods in relieved acquiescence and closes her eyes, the darkness soothing her. She sighs in bitter happiness as her sorrow proves tiring and loses herself in slumber.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Thank you all for reading! Another short chapter for today. I thought I was all done editing everything, but you guys make me wanna make everything perfect. The next one will be up tonight or tomorrow!

 **Chapter 6**

"Dan! I didn't know you were coming over." Serena leaps forward, wrapping her arms around Dan as he comes into view.

Dan laughs and pulls away to look at Serena's blue eyes. He leaves his arms circled around her waist, however, refusing to let go. "I wanted to see if you wanted to have dinner with me at the loft to celebrate you coming home. You know, I do make a mean steak. And we'd be completely alone." This last part he whispers in a throaty voice, brushing her forehead with his.

But he mentions the words 'coming home' gingerly . Ever since he left her sobbing on her hospital bed, they both avoid the topic of her ordeal. While still at the hospital, she had totally ignored her mother and tolerated Blair, Chuck and Eric, but smiled every time Dan had went to visit her the three days she needed to recover. Eric returned to school two days into her stay, kind heart allowing him to forgive Dan for not keeping the secret, but Blair had thrown a tantrum at Dan for spilling what Serena's mother had so adamantly insisted on covering up, but remained remarkably calm in front of Serena, choosing, in a fashion unlike Blair, to forget and forgive Serena's transgressions with Blair the night of Chuck's party. She was not, however, prepared to fix what was broken with Chuck, and the two girls' relationship was only bettered after an afternoon of Blair, more teary than she would've liked, spilling all the reasons why she and Chuck still can't be together. Chuck stayed at the hospital with her, studiously ignoring Dan, but Blair, in turn, continued to studiously ignore Chuck. Dan couldn't bear being in the waiting room with the stubborn pair, especially not with the sexual tension between them that made him want to gag.

To say the least, Lily and Rufus weren't all that happy with Dan either, after his betrayal had come to light. Rufus, at least, had seen a little sense in it all, but the little progress Lily might have had in repairing her relationship with her daughter was destroyed, and Lily wasn't pleased. But Dan had seen, after a while, that Serena was truly grateful that someone had told her the truth. He had stopped regretting it the moment that she took his hand and squeezed, whispering a very genuine 'thank you'. All in all, he spent a lot of time in Serena's room, trying to distract her by reading her favorite book, _The Beautiful and the Damned_ , aloud to her, making her giggle by changing the lines of the book ridiculously and peeking over the top of the book to see if she noticed.

On the third day, right before she was supposed to be discharged the next morning, Serena begged him not to leave after spending all afternoon talking about everything and nothing. Dan had simply nodded, his heart thudding enormously in his chest. He had been grateful that he wasn't hooked up to a heart monitor like she was, although he couldn't help gleefully noticing that her heart rate had spiked on the screen. They held hands, growing silent as Dan put his head in one arm on Serena's hospital bed, their breath relaxing into synchronicity with one another as they fell asleep, their hands still twined together. When they woke up the next morning, Dan had leaned over and kissed her tentatively and sweetly before the nurse came in, only growing bolder when her hands, still connected to various tubes and other accoutrements, came up to bury itself in his thick hair. The nurse had stepped into the room, stopped, and smiled. _Like a scene from a movie,_ she thought.

They didn't talk about it, but it was official from that moment on. Dan isn't sure he's entirely satisfied avoiding the elephant in the room, but for now, even if the choice hadn't been entirely what you could call a fair one, he's happy to be with her.

Serena looks up coyly, biting her lip to keep from smiling. "You couldn't have called?"

Dan leans in closer. "You got me. I wanted to see you."

She shivers imperceptibly at the ticklish breath of his words on her neck and leans in for a kiss. Their lips meet, melding to each other, and both hands tighten on each other's' waist. This is the reason they come back to each other. There's a pull that draws them together, something like kindred souls, lost in a world they don't quite belong in. Dan sighs with loss when Serena pulls away, reluctantly, eyes sparkling.

"Mm, so that's what you came for, didn't you?" she says. She missed this, the back-and-forth of a witty guy who could keep up with her. She loves kissing his smart mouth, a smart mouth that could be as soft as it was sharp.

Dan chuckles with mirth."Caught again." His hands come up to twine in her tousled blonde waves, and she sighs at how perfect it feels. "So what do you say about dinner? You can make dessert if you feel up to it. "

At this, Serena pouts a bit, reaching up equally to run her hands through his curly brown locks."I need to pack, actually. I had another fight with my mom. She thinks I withdrew from Columbia. I don't know why she would think so, after we both fought to keep Dean Luther from kicking me out. Probably got that from Juliet too, with all the lies she's been feeding her. I don't bother trying with her anymore," she huffs indignantly, running a hand through her hair. "I'm so sorry. Rain check?"

"Yeah, of course. Don't worry about it. I hope Lily comes around soon. Do you need help with the packing?" He chuckles. "I know how much clothing you have. It's going to take you hours. We can take it to the loft if you need somewhere to crash for a while."

Serena gives him a rueful smile. "Oh, no, I won't make you suffer by packing five hundred pairs of my Louboutins, but thank you for volunteering anyway. As good as the loft sounds, I already told Chuck to reserve a room at the Empire for me and when the semester starts again I'll move into the dorms. But you, Dan Humphrey, had better come have more than a few sleepovers." With that, she captures his lips again, and she's drowning in the sensations of their mouths working together in perfect harmony. They break reluctantly, breath coming a little heavier than it did before. "See you tomorrow then?" she asks, in a low voice,

"Definitely." He smiles and kisses her chastely one more time. "'Bye, Serena."

She smiles and tucks her hands in her back jean pockets as he disappears through the elevator doors. She watches him go with a heavier heart than Dan hadn't caught on to. She wants to forget everything that had happened to her. She wants to forget and be with him, with no other worries and problems to solve. Serena wishes that they could just be Dan and Serena. In a perfect world, they would be. No Nates, no Vanessas, no anything to come between them, and she just knows they could be so, so happy.

But she's not yet, at least. She needs closure. Her parting smile to Dan is immediately wiped off as she walks back into her room. Two extraordinarily large suitcases, already packed, lie on the floor of her room. She picks up the home phone and dials.

"Chuck? I'm dropping off my suitcases at the Empire right now. Did you call in the favor with the police chief yet? I want to go tonight."


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Serena steps out of the cab, slipping the cabbie a twenty. The Queens #3 Police Department isn't decrepit, but the area in which it's situated has seen better days of government funding. She walks on the cracked and weed filled sidewalk into the police station, shivering a little bit in trepidation. It's relatively warm for winter in New York, but the low afternoon sun is quickly melting into darkness as Serena enters the police station. A police man greets her stiffly as she walks in at the grey front desk. Serena blinks her eyes a bit at the harsh fluorescent lighting.

"I'm looking for Police Chief Brown."

He gives her a cold, hard gaze from under his eyebrows. Serena finally notices the silver tag on his uniform alerting her to the presence of the very man she was looking for. He speaks, "I don't approve of this at all. The boy is awaiting a trial, and this is against protocol. If you wanted it this bad, you could've just gotten the Bass boy to pay up bail and visit him on your own damn time and safety."

Serena bites her lip. "That may be true, but let me be the judge of my own safety. And he doesn't want anyone to pay bail." She drops her gaze to the grey carpeted floor. Truth is, she isn't sure of what she's doing. She has no idea why Nate doesn't want to go home before his trial. Hell, she has no idea who he is at all. More than that, she's sneaking around her boyfriend's back, conspiring to visit her kidnapper. It doesn't make sense, but she needs to see Nate. She has to get answers from her old friend and lover.

The police chief sighs and mutters under his breath, "If it wasn't for Bart's son..." He motions for her to follow him. She silently follows him, instantly curious as to what favor he owes Bart Bass. Chuck had simply told her that he could pull strings with the chief when she asked to see Nate while he awaiting trial, and she hadn't wanted to ask any more questions than that. She glances up to realize she's being stared at by a man sitting in an office through the clear glass window. He' s neither tall nor short, fat or skinny, or suited up as a policeman. He turns away, turning his attention to a young officer speaking at his side.

"Chief Brown?" she asks tentatively. He grunts in reply.

"Who is that man in the office? He isn't in uniform." The man had already averted his gaze, but there was something there that intrigues her.

"Who? Oh. Senior detective Kwychowski. In charge of all of the junior detectives."

"Detectives as in like Sherlock Holmes?" she cracks, emitting a light chuckle, trying to make a half-hearted joke.

"Detectives are normal officers that also have the authority to "snoop" for evidence and find the suspect." He misses her joke entirely, and Serena rolls her eyes. He stops and turns around as they reach a large metal-barred cell door. An officer sits in a booth next to it, and she can see the cells that lined the small hallway.

"Chief Brown? Is she..." His voice trails off as he stares, eyebrows raised, at Serena.

"I know it's not protocol. Just let her in." Brown stares piercingly at the man.

The poor officer stutters, "But she's...and his court appointment is in..."

"Do it. Open the door, and give me the key into his cell." Brown's voice holds no question. The officer looks at Serena, flicking his eyes between her and Brown. He slowly pushes the button. There's a beeping noise, and the gate opens. He takes the key around his neck and unlocks a cabinet, where he takes out another much larger key. Still hesitant, he leans over and gives it to his police chief.

The chief takes Serena by the arm and leads her in. He glances at the key. "Number 6. Here it is." They stop in front of cell #6. Serena's breath stops. Nate appears to be sleeping, but not lying down on the ragged cot. Instead, he's sitting on it, leaning against the wall with his head tilted back, eyes closed. He still wears his grey woolen coat with a glossy, out-of-place Dior tuxedo that he hasn't changed out of since the party. The skin over the fine bones of his face is pinched, even in sleep, in an expression that she knows he wears when stressed.

Police Chief Brown interrupts her reverie. "I'm going to leave the cell door open. Don't you close it, now. I will be waiting right outside the main gate. If I hear anything, I'm coming right over. Don't say anything stupid; don't do anything stupid," he says, under his breath. "I'm trusting you."

Serena nods briefly. Her thoughts are jumbled, completely incoherent. She turns away from the chief, focusing entirely on Nate. She doesn't know what she planned to say to him. All thoughts turn to dust as she looks at him, then she averts her eyes away. She can't take the image of him sitting in a jail cell burned in her skull.

Chief Brown unlocks the cell door, easing it open quietly, looking at her as he makes sure the door is as wide as it can go. He nods, stepping slowly away, and Serena slips inside, making sure her Louboutins don't clack against the cement. She approaches him, not cautiously, she notes. She doesn't feel as scared as she should be. But she is frightened of the man sleeping in front of her, but she has a sneaking suspicion it's only because of what he might tell her.

"Nate." Her voice doesn't waver. His eyelids also do not waver.

"Nate." She raises her voice slightly. She feels her eyes start to water.

"Nate!" Her voice cracks, and a tear spills out. She just wants to know _why_.

He jerks at the last raised utterance of his name, eyes flying open. She holds back a wild sob as she catches sight of his eyes. She recognizes deep fear and hopelessness, but the rest is a mystery, even to her, a member of the non-judging breakfast club. His eyes focus on her, his entire state of mind still distilled in his eyes. But it's now a controlled expression, no longer completely naked.

It's silent for a few moments more as Nate tries to regulate his breathing. He had spent the first night pacing, unable to get comfortable in the cot. Then he fell asleep during the day, too tired to care. He sat up numerous times, running his hands through his hair before he gave up any pretense of sleeping and instead just sat there. He didn't try again to fall asleep the following night or the following half day either. But then he finally slumped, completely drained, against the wall. He had been sleeping for a scant two hours, a deep, heavy sleep. Serena's voice, unmistakeable, had jerked him into reality, and his eyes had flown open.

"Serena?" His vision is blurry from sleep, and his groggy limbs aren't ready to move just yet. He shifts awkwardly, pushing his aching back further up the concrete wall. In fact, he isn't really sure who's in front of him. He recognizes it, or thinks he recognizes it. He blinks and rubs the fatigue from his eyes. Perhaps it's just a desperate reflection of who he wants to be with at that second. Any second of his life, really. He blinks a couple of times more.

Serena draws in breath raggedly, trying to calm down and breathe. She scrubs her tears away, but only ends up shedding more as Nate struggles to awaken completely as he says her name questioningly. Frustration oozes from her tightly clenched hands. Their old ease, their rapport, gone. For what? That's what she wants to know. From him personally.

Nate's vision finally clears after a few seconds, and he glances up. He makes a strangled noise as he realizes it's exactly who he initially thought it was. He stares into her blue eyes that so match his and laboriously draws himself to full height. He sees the redness of her eyes, the tears that still threaten to spill. He balls up his fists, berating himself over and over again for her pain. He doesn't know if he should step closer to her.

Serena looks up at him. She unconsciously expects him to look different, to look evil or grotesque to her now that his true intention and nature is revealed. She wants him to look different, but his high cheekbones and tousled hair are angelic, like always, even tired and worried like she can tell he is. But she knows it's a facade that hides something ugly underneath, that had harmed her.

"Tell me why." The whisper floats in the air before them, hovering. Nate looks into Serena's eyes without faltering. She wonders how he can stare so unabashedly at her without looking away in shame. The Nate she knew could not tell a lie, but the look in his eye is enough to confirm that he doesn't think what he did is wrong. And she so wants to believe him, but she cannot. He is irrevocably guilty, and she can't forgive all the evidence against him. She raises an outstretched hand to slap away the face that had the gall to look at her intensely.

Nate doesn't even look twice at her raised hand. "Are you okay? Serena, the last time I saw you, I thought you were dying."

Serena makes a strangled sound. "Don't act like you care, Nate. Just tell me why." She shouts it at him, furious. "Tell me why you decided to throw away the chance that I might've chosen you over Dan, why you threw away our friendship, our trust. Dammit, Nate!" She turns from him, facing the wall.

She feels his hand fetter her wrist. Serena whirls around frantically, mouth forming the words that would bring officers running at her rescue but catches sight of Nate's eyes. Desperation and bafflingly, fright clouds his crystal clear eyes, and they are both scared.

"Serena. Please listen to me. I'm begging you." He slips his hand from her wrist to her hand, clasping it tightly. She doesn't think she has the energy to pull away. "I didn't drug or kidnap you."

She meets his eyes incredulously. "Nate. Chuck told me all of the evidence that was found against you. His lawyer can't find a single thing wrong with it. There were eyewitnesses, Nate! Fingerprints! Don't even try to deny anything. I can listen to apologies, but I can't listen to lies."

Nate looks deep into her eyes. "Just hear me out. Please. You've known me forever, Serena. Please tell me that there's some part of you that doesn't believe that I did that to you." He squeezes her hand, his expression desperate.

Serena stands there a moment more. Then she slowly lowers her chin, once, in a nod, never breaking eye contact, with trepidation. Nate struggles not to make his exhalation of relief audible before starting.

"That night, after you sent that text that you were going to choose between Dan and I, I was beyond nervous at the party. I expected you to choose Dan. But I couldn't help hoping." He breaks his glance here, staring down at his feet.

Serena can't help but squeeze his hand back from where he holds hers. She curses herself. _Stop. He's not your friend anymore._ She pulls her hand away. But she soon becomes distracted as she processes his words.

"Nate?"

He looks up, hope shimmering faintly in his eyes, but she stares resolutely and coldly, she hopes, into his eyes. "You really can just stand there, looking into my eyes, and lie to me. Your oldest friend. I never texted you anything before the party." She glares back at him, expecting a response, anger creasing her brow.

Nate furrows his brows in confusion as well. "I'm not lying! You have to remember. It was in the afternoon.. It said, 'I'll choose tonight at the party.' I called Dan to see if he got the same one and he did."

Alarmed, Serena says, "I didn't send any text messages to you or Dan. And my phone..." She pats her pockets a couple of times before going into her bag and drawing out her phone. "This is my phone for sure."

"Call Dan and ask if he got the text from you, if you don't believe me." Serena bites her lip but selects Dan's number and dials. She sees and attempts to ignore the look of concealed hurt on Nate's face.

"Hey, Dan."

"Hey, Jen-what-Serena? Wait, why do you have Jenny's phone?" His voice is permeated with confusion. "I know you just got your phone back from the police this morning, but. . ."

'Dan, what are you talking about?"

Nate's eyes narrows at Serena"s perplexed expression. "What's going on?" he whispers.

Grateful that he whispered, Serena shakes her head at him and puts her attention back on Dan. "I'm calling from my cell phone. Why would you think I have Jenny's phone?"

"It's showing up as Jenny's caller ID. Let me call your contact number just to make sure. Oh, wait, did you need something? What's up?"

"Um, I . . . I have a question I wanted to ask you . . . did I text you before the party? That night?" There is an awkward silence.

"Uh, yeah." Another pause. "You told me you would choose that night. Between...yeah."

"Oh. . . okay. Right, sorry. I know, random question. So anyway, just call my number to make sure it works. I'll call you back if I don't get anything." She hangs up, and Serena lowers her cell phone, rolling her eyes as she sees Nate's impatience.

"He got the same text. And apparently when I called Dan, it showed up as Jenny in the caller ID. He's going to call my number to make sure his contacts didn't get mixed up. Not a big deal, probably just something wrong with his cell phone."

"So, are you sure you didn't send the text?" His voice is quizzical.

"I'm pretty sure I would remember if I did. I don't exactly have amnesia from all those drugs, Nate. You would know." He winces at the barb.

"Serena, I'm trying to tell you, I didn't do it. I would never do something like that, least of all to one of best friends. Why can't you see that?"

She glares into his eyes."Because there is nothing, no proof, to suggest otherwise."

" _I'm_ telling you otherwise, Serena! Is it too much to ask for you, this once, to trust me?" Nate says in a pained voice.

Serena averts her eyes. She can't bring herself to do what he wishes.

Nate runs a hand through his disheveled hair and tired face, then drops his hand as if it weighed as much as a dumbbell. "Somebody who had blonde hair and the same mask and dress came up and kissed me. It wasn't you, I could tell. I was close enough to Dan to see that that another girl dressed like you kissed him too. I went outside, and I saw you with your mask off, eyes closed, in a taxi cab with the fake Serena." He squeezes his eyes for a brief moment but continues. "The cabbie lost your cab on a huge street in the middle of Queens. I got out and asked around for you. I went around like that for two hours."

Serena wants to believe him, but it would be such a fantastical leap of faith. Her eyes well up, and she turns her head away. Nate doesn't spare a glance for her. He expects it. He has no more hope that she would believe him. But nobody can say he didn't try. He continues.

"Somebody gave me an envelope. It had the address of the building you were found in and a piece of your dress. I went to the building and your dress was lying there, shredded. I ran upstairs, and I found another piece of your dress. I looked through every room on that floor until I found you." Nate's jaw clenches as he remembers how for one terrible moment how deathly pale Serena was.

"Your skin was so cold, Serena." He meets her eyes. "I thought you were dead. I was about to call 911, but I heard something from the bathroom. I went to go check, but the window was open and there was stairs on the outside of the building. I looked everywhere, but the real kidnapper wasn't there. Then I went back to check on you, and the rest you know."

There is a clearing of the tautness in the air as they look into each other's eyes. Blue on blue. They face each other, two bodies wired with tension. Nate is the first to break eye contact. He drops his eyes, defeated. He's told his side of the story numerous times, but it isn't _his_ truth, it is _the_ truth. He feels he can't keep up the effort needed to convince everyone of the truth. He won't just accept his fate, but he has no idea what else to do. A damned good lawyer wouldn't be able to turn the condemning finger of evidence in his favor.

Serena catches a glimpse of his placid expression as he tilts his head downward for his condemnation. It is devoid of any emotion, but she knows him all too well. It' s something better described as hopeless. She can't bear it anymore. This is Nate, she repeats over and over again. It isn't possible, why can't you see that? She lifts a hand, and he flinches, waiting. But instead, Serena touches his right hand and grasps it firmly. He looks up, taken aback.

"I believe you," she says. Her words are confident. He squeezes her hand hard and a touch of a smile ghosts his lips.

Serena pulls him into a hug, relishing his warmth in the cold cell. He wraps his arms around her and they relax into each other, fitting together like nothing had happened, and just as they did when they were 5 years old, 12 years old, 18 years old, and every year in between.

"Thank you," he whispers into her shoulder.

"I should've never doubted you," she breathes back. Serena releases the hug, though she barely pulls an inch back. "You don't belong in this jail. I'm going to get you out of here. I promise." Her voice trails off as they both become conscious of how close they are to each other, still pressed together from the hug, and Nate can feel her cool breath on his mouth as she talks. They freeze. They look at each other's lips and both unconsciously lean in infinitesimally.

Serena wants to kiss away the strain that is still visible on Nate's face. She feels electric in his presence, her skin burning where his hands still encircle her waist. Then she thinks of Dan, of his slow burn.

Nate sees her eyes darken, and they jerk away at the same time, breaking contact. Her skin feels cold where the shadow of his touch still lingers, but there are still sparks as they continue eye contact.

"Serena . . ," Nate says in a low tone. Serena bites her lip. "I should probably go. I need to get Blair and Chuck onboard. I know they'll believe you once I tell them the truth. I'll visit tomorrow, okay? I'm not abandoning you here." She almost turns to go, then remembers something. "Nate, why don't you let Chuck pay your bail? I know he wants to, but he was expecting you to call him, at least. Come home, out of this mess."

Nate gives a light shake of his head before saying, "I know he would've, but I was just being stupid these past few days, I think. I kept hoping there would be something that turned up that would've cleared my name instantly, without dealing with my mom and her lawyers, the media, and Gossip Girl tailing me around. Then I could just walk out like none of this had ever happened."

Serena's eyes are determined. "We'll get you out of here, Nate. Don't worry."

Nate nods, replacing his intense expression with a light smile curving his mouth. "I'll try to make friends with the other inmates in the meantime."

Serena gives a light laugh and punches his arm, a faint smile on her lips. "Bye Nate." She gives him one last smile, lingering for a couple seconds more before she walks, heels clicking a little too ominously against the silence of the cell. Nate looks on, mood already lifted from Serena's forgiveness, drinking in the sight of her before she disappears completely from view, before he gives a short sigh of exhaustion and drops onto the bed, drained.

* * *

 **A/N:** Hope you all enjoyed the NS scene-I know there are quite a few Derena shippers, but still, leave a review, and tell me what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N:** Sorry for the slight delay; I was traveling! Here's a long one to make up for it :)

 **Chapter 8**

"What? S, are you drunk?" Serena groans at the disbelief in Blair's voice.

"We need to hurry up and do something! Nate doesn't belong in jail anymore than you and I do." Serena can almost see Blair's eye-roll through the phone. "It's Nate, Blair. Nate, the one we've known since preschool? Part of the _non-judging_ breakfast club?"

"But you told me about all the evidence that was against him! The fingerprints, the picture on Gossip Girl, all the people who _saw him._ Even I agree that it was completely incriminating. WE-plural, Serena-gave up hope that Nate wouldn't do something like that in the face of 100% accurate fingerprints, plus eyewitnesses that put him wandering in the hovel in Queens. Oh who am I kidding, all of Queens is a hovel, but that's beside the point."

Serena opens her mouth to interject, getting in the first letter of the word, 'but', but Blair's mouth moves quicker. "Buh-buh-buh no! You had Chuck tell you even the teensy tiny details, because you were afraid to bring up the subject with Dan, which still confuses me, because he was the only one you would talk to the first day in the hospital." Blair's voice is cutting, even petulant belying some of her anger at Serena, leftover from the betrayal at Chuck's party with Anne's charity, though she hasn't brought that up yet. Blair thought she was over it, but she isn't yet sure about that part.

Serena sighs. "B, you kept something from me. You knew I would've wanted to know. We can't rehash this again, Blair. We'll talk about that later. Just meet me at the Empire, please. And call Chuck and make sure he's there."

"I'm not talking to the Basstard, currently." Serena heard her sniff delicately. "I would like to keep my distance for a while."

Serena raises her arm when she catches sight of a taxi, and it rushes over, earning a couple of honks from swerving cars. She walks to the door and puts her hand on the door-handle. "Well, you have to get over it for the sake of Nate. Are you coming or not?"

"Fine, S. Have it your way. Be there in five. But you can call Chuck." She hangs up, and Serena opens the cab door and sits, a small contented smile on her lips at her little plan. Blair is too easy to reel in, no matter how reluctant her words may have sounded. Mention all her closest friends and a plot to concoct, and undoubtedly, the petite brunette would make it, wherever it is. She gives directions to the cabbie and dials Chuck.

"Are you at the Empire?" There is a suspicious affirmative on his end. "Good. I'll be right there. It's about Nate. Call Blair and have her explain." She ends the call with a satisfied tap of her finger, shaking her head. The pair of them are ridiculous.

* * *

An hour later, three fourths of the non-judging breakfast club are deep in conversation sitting at a tucked-away corner of the lobby, which is quiet with the three o'clock blues, save a few sad stragglers drinking alone at the bar. Serena had told them everything Nate had told her, and they had combed through each detail of that night, with Serena scribbling away on a legal pad from Chuck's office. Their biggest triumph has been figuring out that if Serena swore up and down that she had nothing to do with the application to Mrs. Archibald's charity, it had to have been the mysterious perpetrator. Blair is more relieved than she can admit that she doesn't have to bring it up again with Serena.

"We need to start with some potential suspects who have some sort of grudge against you, Serena," Chuck says.

Blair and Serena look at each other. "Too broad," they say at the same time.

Chuck rolls his eyes. "People that are crazy and hate you enough to do something," he clarifies.

Blair furrows her brow. "Poppy and Gabriel were crazy...," she suggests, but Serena shakes her head.

"Where did you get that idea all of a sudden? It's been probably more than two years, B. Not possible. What about Georgina?" There are simultaneous groans. Serena writes down her name in the empty list of suspects without question. Chuck suggests his uncle, but Blair dismisses the idea. "What would he want with Serena and Nate? You weren't involved in this in any way."

"Don't underestimate Jack Bass. He could have been aiming at anyone close to me, just to keep it fresh. He's twisted that way," Chuck says, disgustedly. Serena nods in thoughtful agreement and writes him down. Blair stays silent, the memory of Jack Bass and a certain sale of a hotel haunting her. She squeezes her eyes shut,

"I have a better suggestion. What about Tripp Vanderbilt? Or his wife? Or both? You know they both have reasons to hate you and Nate," Blair interjects. Chuck agrees.

Serena shivers as she scribbles the name on the notepad, remembering how Nate's cousin had left her bruised and bloodied after the car accident. It still doesn't seem altogether plausible, however. What reasons would they have to reawaken the feud, when Tripp had stayed out of her life since the entire thing happened? "Anybody else?" Serena asks, frowning.

Blair and Chuck look deep in thought, not noticing their pensive expressions are identical. Chuck says, "It's an undoubtedly comprehensive list of everyone who has reasons to hurt both of you, but-"

Blair interrupts, adding, "this has to be somebody that's familiar with the Upper East Side, somebody that knows how things work, that wants to turn everyone against you. They would need to know what Gossip Girl is, as they found out what dress and mask you were wearing. They also would need to know about Dan and Nate, and the campaign for the new face for Anne Archibald's Foundation for Girls, so they could submit my application to make me furious."

Chuck flinches in clairvoyance of the name that is coming and looks away. Blair focuses her eyes on the decor in the Empire lobby, refusing to make eye contact with any of them.

"Jenny Humphrey," she says, draining all emotion from the taboo name. Serena looks between the both of them, biting her lip. She can see Blair struggling to control her temper. Chuck just continues to look at the floor, expression dead inside. Blair finally breaks the silence by snapping, "What about that bitch Vanessa? And though I doubt she has the face to come back, what about Juliet?"

Serena lets out a breath and feels relieved at Chuck's visible relaxing of his body, though he waves over a waiter and places an order for scotch. He looks over at Serena and quickly runs his eyes over to Blair, with a raised eyebrow. They shake their heads, and he shoos the waiter away. He brings Chuck's order back at record speed, no doubt familiar with his boss, and Chuck accepts it gratefully, downing a sip quickly.

"So the next step is finding out what these people have been doing," Chuck says, gesturing with drink. "I can get my PI to look into Georgina. Last I know, she went to go live with her parents with her baby."

"Perfect. Start the investigation," Blair says. Chuck already has his phone out, speed-dialing.

Serena looks down at her own cell phone, feeling like she has forgotten something. She bites her lip, thinking hard. She goes through her afternoon in her mind, trying to remember what it is that's fallen through the cracks of a chaotic day.

Dan! She quickly calls him, throwing a curse out in the middle of Chuck's conversation with his PI and attracting the attention of both Blair and Chuck.

"Hello?" Dan's voice is more than a little confused.

"Hey, it's me. Sorry about the wait, I got sidetracked."

"No, it's just that I don't know why my phone is haywire. I don't know who's actually calling me when it's Jenny's caller ID."

"So did you call? I never got your call back."

"Yeah, I called your number, but it went to voicemail. It's still 212-845-1325?"

Serena smiles, a bit stupidly at his memorization , and Blair rolls her eyes, mouthing "This is not the time for Brooklyn. Chuck looks between the two while finishing up with Andrew, hanging up the phone. Serena ignores Blair and says, "That's right."

"Then I don't know why its not working. It's probably just my phone."

Both Blair and Chuck are looking at Serena. Blair heaves the biggest sigh Serena's ever heard and taps her wrist dramatically, even though she's not even wearing a watch.

"Don't worry about it, it's probably nothing. I'll talk to you tomorrow, kay? Bye Dan." Serena hangs up. She powers her cell phone on and off, to the bafflement of her companions.

"Serena, what the hell are you doing? You're the one that brought us together trying to save Nate from jail. How about we get on that instead of talking to your boyfriend?" Blair scoffs at her. Serena only sighs and rolls her eyes as she dials Blair's number.

"I'm right next to you. Are you still on drugs?" Blair, ever snide, adds. Even Chuck, face uncertain, starts to talk, but is cut off (again) by a confused Blair. "Jenny Humphrey?" She blanches, her face an imitation of Chuck's. Serena ends the call, then dials Chuck's phone. He picks it up, and Blair leans over slightly to get a look, eyebrows creasing together.

"What's going on, S?"

Chuck looks out at Serena from under dark brows, confusion clouding his eyes. "I'm guessing this is, as of now-"

Blair finishes, "-our _pièce de résistance_?

Serena twists her lips into a smile at the both of them. "We just got our first lead."

* * *

After rushing out of the Empire, with an annoyed Blair and Chuck almost at her heels as she left, demanding answers, she hurries over to the loft, thoughts rushing everywhere. It all makes perfect sense. Of course Jenny Humphrey would do such a crazy extreme thing- she had run away from home as a high school student to chase her dreams, and she had an obsessive crush on Nate. He pushed her away, Serena knows, and that must have caused her to snap. She would want to destroy Nate and Serena together. She must have switched the SIM card in their cell phones so Serena's texts and calls would go to her phone, and also the other way around. It's probably a testament to Jenny's notoriety on the UES that Serena hasn't received anything from Jenny's friends.

Jenny was the one who had sent the texts to Nate and Dan, hoping to turn them against her when she made sure that both men would see "Serena" kiss both of them. Serena wrinkles her nose. Did that mean she kissed her own brother? She shakes her head at the thought. The bitch is gross. She would bet anything that Little J is the one who turned in the application for Anne Archibald's foundation, too, to spite Blair and to make an enemy of Serena once again. Serena struggles to control her anger. Did the bitch even know what havoc she had wrought? Jail is not a joke, and neither is an overdose. Serena almost died, and she needs some answers.

She rushes up the stairs to the loft, having so much energy (or anger) that she bounds up three stairs at a time. She comes to the door and knocks rapidly. The door opens and Dan appears. He does a double take at Serena's appearance.

"Serena?"

"Hey. Can I come in?" She is a little breathless from the stairs, but the sight of Dan and his ever-endearing flannel shirts and messy hair calms her, like it always does. Dan furrows his brow a little but inches his door open for her.

"I need to tell you something. About Jenny."

Dan's eyebrows go way up. He pushes the sleeves of his collared shirt up a tad bit worriedly. "What's wrong?"

"Nate told me the truth about that night, and after talking to Blair and Chuck then dealing with the weird cell ph-"

Dan cuts her off. "Wait, you talked to Nate? And met up with Blair and Chuck?" His voice is incredulous and undoubtedly pissed. His hands come up in a "hold-up" position in front of him.

"I had to talk to him, Dan! I had to have an explanation. From him, not an officer or even you, Blair or Chuck. He's one of my oldest friends, and when he told me the real story, that he had nothing to do with it, I couldn't do nothing. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but I had to. Please try to understand." Serena doesn't pause to let him react to her words before blurting out Nate's story-the truth. After she finishes her last word, she takes a deep breath and finally deigns to look at him, nervous.

Serena's heart sinks as she sees Dan has crinkled his eyebrows together in consternation. His eyes are filled with hurt and a touch of anger. He says, "I don't know much about police protocol, but I know enough that you aren't supposed to visit the person who did that to you. And with all the evidence against him, he's going to jail, Serena. For a long time. I don't know what he told you, but I know what I saw that night. But it isn't enough that you went to see the person who was responsible for putting you in the hospital for two days, you had to lie to me too." He runs both hands through his curly hair, allowing his hands to slide back down his face. The image of Nate throwing himself in a cab after Serena, that desperate look on his face is burned into the back of Dan's eyelids, as is his burning regret that he didn't pull Nate away. Serena doesn't understand that he _saw_ what Nate was like.

Serena struggles to compose herself. Each of his words felt like a jab to her gut. She physically needs him to be there for her, to give his support as she fights for an old friend. Dan's inner strength and sincerity would be the only thing to hold onto as she climbed this new mountain.

All of a sudden, she's angry. She's so angry at Dan. No, if she really looked deep enough, she would realize that she holds none towards him but all of it towards herself. Why isn't she strong enough to relinquish these feelings for Dan, for Nate, for both of them? Why does it feel like a lifeline to her, these boys? She can't keep using them, not like this. But Serena doesn't look this deep into herself, can't find the energy to.

Instead, she lashes out like a hurt cub at Dan, crying out, "Excuse me for thinking that you cared enough about your sister to want to get her some help if she stuffed me full of drugs. I'm _sorry,_ truly, for wanting your help in finding who actually did this to me. Fine. Maybe I shouldn't have lied to you about going to see Nate. But you would have stopped me. You wouldn't have understood. I'm sorry, Dan, but you should be sorry too." She backs away from where she had been stepping forward towards Dan without breaking eye contact from his placid expression and crossed arms.

Tears come to her eyes, but she stands her ground. She hates fighting with him, not when they complement one another so well. For the second time in the day, she just wishes their love story could be uninterrupted. They could make dinner together, huddle on the couch, read together. Make love together. They were good at it all when they presented a united front. She would love him, and he would love her. She shuts her eyes, blinking away her tears and her thoughts. Enough. She has too much to do.

Serena turns around and walks out the door, heels keeping a steady beat against the cement floor as Dan makes for his bedroom, face still passive, hard as cement. But his heart feels bruised, a little squished, just wishing for the same things that just crossed Serena's mind.

* * *

Dan drops like a stone on his bed, his back lying flat against the sheets and his eyes glued to the ceiling, frozen. His emotions run down laps around a track, cycling out like relay racers as one fights for first place. He's still fuming inside from Serena's lie, but it's unsteady fuming. It doesn't feel right. He flops on his back and closes his eyes. He shivers from the draft that seeps in from his windows, and he tugs his sleeves down from where he had pushed it up. He closes his eyes. It's a mistake. His writer's imagination runs away, and he sees Serena with her forehead against the jail bars, interlacing her fingers with Nate, who mirrors her position against the bars, as he whispers the "real" story in Serena's ear. He imagines Serena gasping out with sympathy and shock and clenching his fingers even tighter, then looking into his eyes. Then they would pull in even more, tilting their lips together through the bars, rueing the restraints. Serena then would breathe, "I'll get you out of here, my Nate, then we can be together forever!" as the police chief has to drag her away, the star-crossed lovers tragic fate.

Dan bolts up, rubbing his fists in his eyes to remove his imaginings,refusing to think about what went down that made Serena believe in Nate. He blinks, then contemplates his reasons against helping Serena clear Nate's name. Is he too blinded by jealousy? Does he want Nate to stay guilty so Serena will never fall back into his arms again? If Dan's honest, he can say that the thought is indeed there. But it's not the reason-Dan is sure of what he saw, and the evidence truly appeared to be damning, from what the policeman had said.

But what he can't do is dismiss what Serena said about his sister. He can hardly bring himself to think it, but he doesn't trust Jenny anymore. Not after she sent the blast to Gossip Girl about her sleeping with Chuck to humiliate Blair. She had barely returned to the Upper East Side from Hudson to do such a thing. True, she did take the high road and leave, again, to Hudson but the damage was done. She proved that it's in her instincts to react in such a way, and Dan is only just beginning to realize it. He has no idea what she is capable of anymore. But felonies are a stretch. Jenny Humphrey? His own _sister_? As much as she has lost Dan's respect, he's sure she's not able to do such a thing and would never be. He remembers the true little J, five years old, still chubby in the face as she made little Dan stand still (begging with that cherubic face of hers) so she can drape all their mother's scarves over every inch of his body. Hot and itchy, he would try to shake it off, but one look at the wildly happy child clapping her hands and screaming "Pretty, Dan-Dan! Pretty!" silenced him for at least for a few seconds more.

He kicks off his shoes and scoots himself fully on the bed, drained. Those days were long gone, and none of them were that innocent anymore. Dan yawns. There' s no light coming in through the window. What time is it? He pulls out his cell phone. Nine. The winter sun falls early, and Dan feels like sleeping. But as he reaches to place his phone on his bedside table, he hesitates, and his hand stops midair. ?'

 **A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review if you did-it's so encouraging to read.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Serena finds herself in peace and quiet for the first time since her departure from the hospital. Chuck and Blair had been pointedly ignoring each other at different tables and leapt to their feet when she walked in. But one look at her tired face and hearing her emotionless, "Just not now, okay?", they had wordlessly retreated and watched her take the elevator up.

She could barely lift her hand to slide the keycard in the hotel door, and then had such a moment of deja vu back to _that_ time, when her hand felt like a 50lb weight, barely able to be lifted to pick up the phone. She had burst in through the door, a surge of adrenaline rushing through her veins as she panicked, memories of being in that room in Queens rushing through her head, memories of not knowing what was going on, blinding her, causing her heart to pound, her head to rush, and her hands to sweat.

Serena mentally grabs herself and shakes hard, forcing herself to get a grip. She closes the door, dropping her bag into a chair and, wanting to be comfortable, perches herself on the bed. Feeling all too comfortable in the plush bed, she falls against it, closing her eyes, finally forgetting. That is, until she really begins to understand where she is. In a bed. That more or less feels like another bed. Her eyes are closed. Can she get them to open? Can she move her hand? Does she know where she is? Her eyes pop open, and she jerks off of the bed, hands shaking as she grips the side table for support as she backs away. Then snatches her hand away as she stares at the phone sitting there, remembering her hand, feeling like it was moving through syrup, finding purchase on the cold plastic and gripping it securely, then trying to find the way back to her. She shivers violently and turns and runs. But there is nowhere to run to. There is no place she could go to hide. No solution to her problem. And there her legs fail her.

She crumples in the middle of the room, Golden Girl Serena van der Woodsen, face pale as a sheet and hair imperfectly disheveled. She wraps her arms around her legs, refusing to let herself drown now, of all times. She had not bothered to think about the trauma of that night, only to think about why Nate had done it and now that Dan, who had been her utmost liferaft, is nowhere to be found, she feels too alone. She wrestles and struggles with this feeling of loneliness, of emptiness, trying to fend it off, knowing she must in order to move on.

Avoiding reliving what had happened in that room was easy in the hospital, where she was assured that she was safe, by all the nurses, doctors, and visitors. She found herself rarely alone-the nurses were kind, and Dan hardly left her side. But here, where loneliness pressed in from every corner of the hotel that didn't exactly encourage feelings of warmth or home, Serena is unable to resist her nightmares.

That bone-chilling fear, that empty nothingness where one's memories are supposed to be, all of it will haunt her for a long time to come. Serena supposes that the thought of it has matured her already-she isn't a young student at Constance anymore, and the pranks they pulled at Constance between enemies and frenemies have transformed into something much larger and nastier, something that neither party is able to control. Serena's done, finished-if she doesn't grow up, she'll find herself here again, time and time again. Hurting others and being hurt.

* * *

The very next day, Serena takes a deep breath of stale holding cell air, reveling in its coolness. It isn't because she feels warm, exactly. It's more of an internal burn, like somebody holding a small match inside her body, and the heat is collecting. She feels her forehead, expecting extreme warmth but instead is surprised at how frigid it is. She feels yet another wave of fatigue try to knock her down, but struggles hard to keep herself from falling to the floor in exhaustion.

"Just go on in," says the officer escorting her. Serena missed his name when he introduced himself; she was too busy smothering a yawn.

Serena can only nod as she walks in.

Nate sits up with an exclamation of her name as she walks in. At the sight of the one of the two people she can think of who could calm her down, she almost breaks. She wants him to hug her, to hold her together, to infuse her with that electricity that she felt when they had almost kissed yesterday. Instead, she can only fight for control over her expression and body, standing in the middle of the cell trembling.

Nate freezes from the place where he had been standing up from, panicking as he sees through her. He sees the herculean effort it takes for her to not be standing there hysterical and almost jumps to the wrong conclusion, that she's going to accuse him again and be angry. But he sees the look of longing in her eyes, glinting off her sea blue eyes, and he is not afraid to run and hold her close. He tugs her close to his body, and they press together. Her grip on his waist is superhuman. He strokes her hair, playing with the gold thread like strands. Nate wonders what has inspired a visit so soon again, but all he can think about is Serena being in his arms. He can't bring himself to spoil the feeling of completion. But nor could he ignore her shaking shoulders.

Nate finally pulls away to take a look at her face. Indeed, tears are sliding like melted butter down her cheeks. She turns her face away, using her hair to cover up as much as possible. Nate refuses to be put off however and impatiently brushes her hair away.

"Hey, Serena. . ." His voice trails off as she can't keep her sobs inaudible anymore. They rip out of her, cutting off her breath which came in choked gasps. Her knees collapse beneath her as she can't find it in herself to stand. Nate's arms quickly encircle her, holding her up for support. He sets her down gently on his cot, arm still around her back, keeping her together. Instinctively, he knows that Serena is looking for contact comfort. He pulls her in closer to his side, her sobs still threatening to cut off her breath. She leans her head into his chest, tears seeping into the same suit jacket he has been wearing for days. But tears can't flow endlessly, even though it might seem like one can cry forever.

Serena finally begins to regain control, and her sobs morph into painful hiccups. Feeling too exposed, though, she turns her head into his shoulder. He takes her chin in his hand. Their eyes are eye level, and all she can see is nothing but concern and sadness. He drops his hand, but their blue gem eyes cannot move from each other.

Serena's lips moves, and she speaks. "I paid your bail. You're free."

Nate continues to stare into her eyes. "Tell me what's wrong."

Serena almost laughs. Of course Nate wouldn't react to that. He knows her too well to be distracted from her sadness by her words.

"Tell me," he says softly.

She twists her fingers together, tension in every limb. "It haunts me." She pauses. "I was too scared to sleep on the bed last night. All I could think about..." She shakes her head as tremors threaten to take over again. "At the hospital, with nurses and Dan-" She flinches a little at the name, then glance guiltily at Nate. He understands at once.

"I could forget at the hospital. But yesterday, I felt like I did in that hotel room. I was transported back to that time, and I was scared. What if I hadn't woken up, Nate? What if those pills really had killed me? I remembered every detail, and I felt like I couldn't breathe through the weight of it."

Nate puts his hands over her hands, which are clenched so tightly her nails press crescent moons into her palsm. He interlaces both hands with hers.

"But you woke up, Serena. You were so brave to wake up and find the strength to call the police. You survived." There is so much warmth and energy infused in his last sentence, unintentionally telling Serena how happy he is that she is not only here next to him, but on earth at all. But her sadness returns, and she pulls her lips into a bitterly rueful quirk.

"And here you are. In jail. Because I was stupid enough to believe that you could do such a thing to me. And I can't even do a thing to help you get out."

Nate pulls her up, keeping their hands together.

"Don't be stupid, Serena. Would I be walking out of this cell if not for you?" He tugs on her hands towards the open cell door and the officer waiting just outside, a stony expression on his face. "You have me, always."

* * *

"Nathaniel!"

"Archibald?"

"Did you all miss me?" Nate chuckles as he hugs Chuck and smiles at Blair.

Surprising even herself, she pulls him into a hug as well. "No, you asshole. How could you get yourself arrested?" Blair punches his shoulder.

Chuck arches a brow. "Didn't I teach you to not to get caught? What are you doing out of jail anyway? You said you didn't want me to pay your bail, what an idiot." He offsets his words with a smirk.

"Hey man, I really just hate owing you one," Nate says with a laugh, punching Chuck's suited shoulder.

"Did Serena really get you out already?" Blair adds. "How. . . efficient," she then tacks on, blinking her eyes innocently at Serena.

Serena rolls her eyes. "I bailed him out. I called Anne and told her that you were staying at the Empire for a while, but she was already so worried he that you had run off because of..." She glances at Nate. He hasn't told her about his mom asking for a divorce, and she doesn't know if he wants everyone else to know. "But anyway, I just told her you were just staying at The Empire to blow off some steam."

Nate looks blankly at her. "It should be all over the news and Gossip Girl by now."

Serena shakes her head. "You'd be surprised at what my mother can do. But all she can do is postpone the inevitable, even if she thinks her plan is foolproof. But with any luck at all we'll clear your name before the court date."

Blair raises her eyebrows. "You don't need luck when you're plotting with a Waldorf."

All three of them mimic her raised eyebrows and stare at her. Blair sniffs and looks around with a clueless and offended, "What?!". Chuck smiles and Serena and Nate burst out laughing.

Serena's giggle is choked back as she catches sight of Dan at the front desk, talking to the clerk. He is wearing one of his vintage collared shirts and jeans, and from the back, his hair is slightly rumpled. When he walks off in the direction of the elevators, his profile is sharp against the dark color of the wall, and Serena catches her breath at how handsome he looks. Tension becomes evident in every muscle in her body. She wants to make things right between them, have it be as easy and familiar and exciting as it is to be together. But Serena forces herself to focus. There are more important things than her on-again, off-again boyfriend, namely, saving a friend's life from being ruined by ten years or more of jail time and an ugly transcript.

"Dan," she raises her voice across the room. She can't bring herself to yell again when he doesn't not turn around, and falters.

"Humphrey!" Blair yells. Dan turns around at that, and blanches when he sees the group of them at the entrance to the bar. He is a little too far away for the breakfast club to see in detail, but his fists are noticeably clenched. He makes his way over, reluctantly.

The foursome stay silent as Dan walks over. He does a double-take as he recognizes Nate. "You have got to be kidding me. You have some nerve coming here." He grabs Nate by the lapels, running him away from the group, and, before any of them have any time to react, punches him with a mean right hook.

Serena screams, "Dan, no!" among a myriad of curses from Chuck and hurled insults from Blair as the three move quickly to hold back Dan from a second punch.

But Nate yells "What the fuck, man?" and wastes no time in recovering and throwing his shoulder into Dan, ramming Dan's back against a pillar in the middle of the lobby.

Chuck has just enough time to try to pull at Nate's shoulder before they go hurtling past towards the marble wall. Peeved, he says, "Come on, Nathaniel, let the bastard go. He's not worth it."

Dan shouts, "You all can forgive him for what he's done to Serena?" He kicks at Nate's stomach, sending him to the floor from the locked position of their arms. But Nate, responding with "I haven't done anything to her!" grasps Dan's flannel firmly and takes him down as well. They wrestle on the ground, each landing a fair share of punches. Nate has the athletic upper-hand, but Dan's fury makes up for his untrained hits.

Chuck waves away the concierge and bell-boys that have rushed over to pull the two apart as he and Serena pull the two away from each other, Serena taking Dan and Chuck taking Nate.

Serena, refusing to cry, makes Dan look at her. "Stop, Dan, please. Please don't fight. Nate hasn't done anything." She brushes a small cut on his high cheekbones that has started dripping a bit of blood. "You're bleeding, come on, we'll wash it off." Dan catches her hand, and she realizes with a sinking heart that the heat of his anger hasn't yet dissipated. "Tell me what the hell he's doing here, close to you, Serena. And please believe me when I say this has nothing to do with jealousy. He hurt you! He almost killed you!"

"He hasn't done anything to me, Dan! Why won't you believe me? I paid his bail, and we're going to prove he's innocent."

Dan lets go of Serena's hand and opens his mouth to speak. "You can't-"

Blair purses her lips and glares. "-Brooklyn. You can't possibly be talking about hurting Serena when you were the one who made Serena look like a kicked cat yesterday, weren't you?" Blair turns to Chuck, who was attending to a bloody nose of Nate's by handing him his pocket square. "Throw him out."

Chuck raises his hand, intending to wave forward the bell-boys, but Nate, who had stayed silent all this time, cuts him off. "What did you do to Serena?" He takes a step forward, wiping up the rest of the blood with Chuck's pocket square and tossing it to Chuck, who barely catches it in time with disgusted bemusement.

"What _I_ did to Serena? _I_ didn't do anything, but you can't say the same. You want to explain what you were doing to her that night?" Dan's voice and body language convey utmost hostility, and it won't be long before they start fighting again.

Serena steps in between them quickly. "I'm right here, and you can stop acting like two idiotic knights in shining armor, and I'm the one that needs saving. She looks into Nate's eyes, hoping he'll see reason that the infuriated Dan can't. "Stop. You know this won't help anything. We have to clear your name, and if he isn't going to help, we still have Blair and Chuck. Non-judging breakfast club? Come on." She manages a light smile.

Nate relents and lets himself be pulled back. But he spits out a warning to Dan. "Don't hurt her again."

Dan lets out an astonished breath of air at his words and backs away. "I cannot believe this. _I'm_ the bad guy now. Fine. Okay. But Serena, you were right about what you said last night. Come find me if you want to know why. I can't come to you apparently." He casts a glance at Nate, then Serena, letting it linger, and walks away through the revolving doors.

"Wait . . ." Serena whispers. Her hands clench. Watching him walk away like this makes her heart hurt with every step he takes away. How did it come to this?

"Serena?" Nate asks, hesitantly, as he sees the angle of her body towards Dan. Serena turns her head, and Nate sees the plea in her eyes. "Go find him then. Hurry, you're going to lose him!"

Serena assumes that he means that in a literal sense, that she will lose sight of him, but fails to catch the double entendre in plain sight with his words. _Lose him._ Serena can't lose Dan. Nate knows that to be true, knowing her as well as he does, but she doesn't.

She keeps her eyes on his for a fraction of a moment before she flees out the doors, a mane of glowing hair the last thing he sees. Those words reverberate throughout his head as he turns back to the grim-faced Blair and Chuck- _Serena can't lose Dan._

* * *

 **A/N:** If you like/dislike the way the story is going, let me hear about it in a review below! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** Oops, I got lazy about uploading...chapters are coming, fear not!

"Dan, please, wait." Serena jogs to catch up with his retreating back, her stilettos rapping a signal against the concrete.

Dan turns around, and his eyes alight on Serena. "Wow, I did not expect you to come so fast," he says, his tone acerbic, but with a touch of reconciliation. He warms where Serena grasps him around his upper arm with a soft hand.

"Dan, I know we fought last night, but I don't want to lose you. You were the reason I didn't suffocate in that hospital. You were my rock, you _are_ my rock, and I need you, Dan. I always need you."

"Really? Because you were pretty close with Nate back there. It's been, what, two days since we established our relationship, which you are supposedly thankful for, and yet you still run off to Nate behind my back. I can't keep waiting and forgiving forever, Serena. And it's not fair for you to make me."

"Look, I didn't know that you were comforting me about something that Nate wasn't responsible for. I didn't know that one of my closest childhood friends was going to framed for something I know he didn't do. God, Dan, we've been so scared to talk about this, and you know why! I didn't really make a choice between you and Nate, because you full well know the reason why Nate couldn't have been more to me is, because he was supposed to have drugged and kidnapped me."

"So what you're saying is that the only reason you chose me was by process of elimination. That because the only other competition was eliminated, you chose me."

"No! Dan, how can you even say that? If I didn't want to be with you, I wouldn't be with you. Ever since we played pool on that first date, ever since all you've done for me ever since this mess happened, I love you, Dan Humphrey. I'm in love with you. I can't ever stop thinking about what we could be like without everything fighting against us. I chose you. But I can't ignore Nate." She puts a hand on her forehead, as she blinks furiously to rid herself of the water in her eyes. "God, I just can't ignore Nate, Dan. And I don't have much time to help him."

He bows his head, closing his eyes for a brief moment. When he opens them again, his voice is softer. "So where does this leave us? Back to square one? Again?" But there's no malice in his words. A hint of hope maybe, with a little bit of resignation.

Serena laughs shakily, the laugh catching in her throat as she reaches for his hand and squeezes, their grips fitting together perfectly. "I don't know, Dan. Have I ever known, with the both of you?" Serena sighs and collects her thoughts, wishing that there is enough time to hash out what was going on in their little love triangle. "We'll work it out, okay? We always do. But right now, I need to know why I'm right about Jenny."

Dan looks at Serena for a few more moments before dropping his gaze, running a hand through his hair before looking back up to her. "I, uh, called the house phone in Hudson after you left." He scratches his head. He wants to look downwards in shame over the way he acted when she told him of her suspicions about Jenny. And, suddenly, he realizes that Blair is right. He has no right to berate her newly restored friendship with Nate when he treated Serena the way he did the night before. "And I found out you were completely in the right. My mom thought she was staying with us in New York for the entire weekend, but none of us have seen her since she supposedly left the night of Chuck's other party. I didn't tell my mom that because I didn't want to freak her out completely. I still don't know if that was a good move on my part, but I just didn't want her to feel as I do right now, because my little sister is more than likely involved in what happened to you, with Nate." He looks up at Serena, his features desperate. "I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry."

Serena touches his shoulder, deciding to fight the battle of Nate's innocence another time. "Come on, it wasn't your fault. Don't apologize." She pulls him into a hug. As she relaxes into the familiar position, the need for his support and his presence swells. His cologne, the feel of his button down shirts against her body, it's all so right. _You know what also feels right, Serena? When you hug Nate._

She springs away almost immediately, causing Dan to pitch forward.

"Are you okay? Did I do something? Are you dizzy? You've only been just released from the hospital. I'm sorry, I should have been more careful."

"No, I'm okay. I just realized we have too much to do on such a short notice. So will you help me?" Serena lies quickly, efficiently, and Dan is too confused by her actions to see through it like he usually does.

"Uh, yeah, of course. Anything to help."

"Come on, let's go back to the hotel and decide what to do next."

Dan's brows knit together. "Maybe that's not the best idea to make the rest of the day efficient. I'm guessing Nate wasn't happy that you came for me, and Blair and Chuck aren't my biggest cheerleaders. How about you and them try to find out if anyone else was involved? I'll use the rest of the day to find out more about where Jenny is. Actually... I should probably check at the loft to see if there are any signs she stayed there."

Serena nods, relieved that she made the decision she would have. "You know, I think that might be for the best. Then I'll text you where we're meeting tomorrow?"

Dan's posture stiffens. "I'll see you later, then." He's unhappy that she's returning to within 50 feet of her kidnapper.

"Of course." Serena says, with a bright smile, reserved just for him.

Surprising both himself and Serena, he pulls her quickly into a deep kiss. He isn't sure if that's altogether within the newly redrawn parameters of their relationship, but he needs it, and from the reactivity of Serena's lips against his, she does too. They pull back, both with wide eyes and small secretive giggles turning up the corners of their mouths. Serena puts a hand on his cheek, running a thumb over his slight five o'clock shadow before running off.

Serena's emotions roil within her as she flees to The Empire. Dan and Nate. Same thing, again. Always? She knows it won't be. Of just one thing she feels confident at this moment: if she doesn't choose soon, they'll choose for her, and she would be left without two of the most important people in her life.

* * *

"Where's Nate?" Serena raises her voice as she walks in through the doors and spots Blair and Chuck having an intense conversation but with no one else around. Both don't reply, being too engrossed in their own exchanging of words. Serena raises an eyebrow at how close they're standing—almost nose to nose. "Blair! Chuck! Where's Nate?"

Blair jerks up out of her and Chuck's tense dialogue, coming into her senses and stepping back with a petite clearing of her throat. She wastes no time getting snippy. "Oh, Serena! There you are. Where's Humphrey? Shouldn't you two be holding hands and forgetting about Nate?"

Serena's mouth twists into a retort, but before she can say something she'll regret, Chuck interrupts. "Nate's taking a shower and changing up in the penthouse."

He looks at Serena, holding her gaze but measuring his next words with care. "Blair is partially right. You can't keep doing this. You can't choose, leave, then come back expecting Dan or Nate to still be here waiting. I don't pretend to give a damn about Humphrey, but-"

"-we all care about Nate," Blair finishes. "You made it clear you were choosing Dan when you left, but now you're here, looking for Nate? It doesn't have to be _Pretty in Pink_ , Serena."

"I'm not trying to confuse anyone, Blair, and I'm not Molly Ringwald. I just don't know who to choose." Serena looks away, feeling exhausted for the fiftieth time that day. It's past noon, and she's still running on no sleep nor food.

"Look, Serena, Nate's court date isn't decided yet, and you know how long these things take. God knows there are enough convicts in the world, and New York has exactly 90 percent of them. We have time to figure this out, and I'm sure we'll come up with a plan tomorrow," Blair says.

"You have the best of the best to catch the person who did this." Chuck adds, looking at Blair, smirking.

Blair ignores him. "S, you just got out of the hospital, and you're exhausted. I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you look like one of those plebeians camped out at Chanel waiting for the latest supply of nail polish. You can't get worse than that. Go take a nap." Blair tries to make her voice comforting.

Serena forces herself to stop a shiver from coursing through her at the thought of taking a nap. "No." She imagines sleeping and feeling her limbs so heavy she'll never wake up. But when she catches sight of Blair's piercing stare that can only mean she's about to argue, Serena amends her statement and agrees, but with no intention of heading to her suite.

Serena heads up the elevator, trying to think of what she's going to say to Nate. Did it really seem like she chose Dan over Nate when she had left? She had sought Nate's approval when she left to stop Dan, but it hadn't been a conscious action, merely one to seek reassurance that he wouldn't be angry if she tried to stop Dan. But, perhaps, she acknowledges with a yawn, it's truly too much to ask for none of her actions between Nate and Dan to be misunderstood.

The elevator arrives at the penthouse suite, and she holds her breath an instance before the elevator door opens, preparing herself for the sight of Nate. No such person is in sight, however, as she enters, and she lets out her breath, stepping into the apartment. Serena can vaguely hear the shower running in the bedroom Nate usually sleeps in and steps into the room, plopping down on the unnaturally neat bed to wait for him, then thinking the better of it. It might be awkward. She moves to the spacious living room couch to wait. Eventually, the water stops, and after a couple minutes, a robed Nate, complete with wet, dark hair, steps out.

"Nate?" Serena speaks uncertainly.

He starts, turning around quickly. Shock registers as he sees Serena on the couch in the middle of standing up. "I thought you were with Dan."

Serena doesn't know if he means spatially or relationship wise, so she replies as if he means the former, the safer of the two. "He told me what he needed to. Jenny's been here in the city, and he's finding out where exactly she is right now."

Nate rubs his wet hair with a thick towel, walking towards her. He stops a few feet in front of her, not knowing what to say.

"I'm sorry," Serena says lamely.

Nate looks at her quizzically as he continues running his towel through his locks. "What for?"

"I chose him. But I didn't know you were innocent. It's different now, and I still haven't chosen." She sighed. "I hurt you again. Of course I did. I always do." She refuses to make eye contact with him, ashamed as she tucks a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. Serena feels him sit down on the couch next to her with a loud plop.

"I'm sure I should be used to you leaving me for someone else by now." Nate's voice is resigned. It isn't meant to be a painful jab, or intended for her pain, but Serena winces anyway.

"Dan, Tripp, probably more." She gives a short bitter laugh, her hair falling forward. She feels his hand on her shoulder turning her towards him. She looks up as Nate gives an almost imperceptible shake of his head, telling her to stop with a warm smile on his lips that don't quite reach his eyes but is sincere nonetheless. She thinks for a moment about his words, her brows knitting together as she grasps a meaning that hadn't been clear before.

"You said you should be used to me leaving you. Does that mean you're not used to it?" Serena asks curiously, staring into his ocean eyes, faceted perfectly. The way his words were phrased now leaves her with this burning question.

Nate falters a moment, running his hand through his wet hair before speaking. "It doesn't matter to you. You haven't chosen. And whether I'm used to it or not, there's always going to be someone else."

The breath leaves Serena as she heard his words. She struggles to form words. "Nate..." She swallows hard before continuing. "You need to understand I wasn't ready to choose at the party. I didn't send that text message to you and Dan. I need to know, for sure, who I want to be with. Then and now, I'm still not sure. Nate, if it _doesn't matter_ how you feel about me, then I would be with Dan right now." Serena grasps one of Nate's hands. "Believe me when I say all I want to do is think about what's going to happen next with you and Dan. But right now, we have to focus on getting you cleared, absolutely, of all charges, because you are innocent." Serena tries to lighten up the mood with a weak smile and a joke. "And we won't fail with a Waldorf working on our side."

"Not to mention the Bass working with her," Nate says with a small curve of his lips, returning the joke as he stands up, withdrawing his hand. He walks towards the bar, pouring himself a small amount of scotch in a glass cup.

Serena also stands. "I'll conspire with the both of them and see what else we can find today. I think I'll be out of my element with the two of them," she laughs a little, "but I can try to help."

Nate nods, taking a sip from his liquor, quiet, pensive. There is only silence as Serena puts her hands in her back pockets, ducks her head, and leaves without another word.

* * *

Serena pauses by the door to her suite, keycard in hand but with a slight tremor. The tremor grows into full fledged shaking as she thinks of the possibility of an empty, dark room-another person waiting to shove drugs down her throat, causing her to lose control of her body once again. Absolute terror causes her body to shut down. That deep fear in her stomach nearly chokes her. She closes her eyes, trying to calm herself and her breathing. She turns away from the door, leaning on it while wrapping her arms tightly around herself.

 _It's okay,_ she tries to convince herself, _there's nobody there. Nobody._ It doesn't work. She can't go in that room. That fear feels like tentacles gripping firmly to her insides, threatening to tighten its hold if she enters that room. Serena looks down, blinking back tears and shaking her head as if that could really clear her head.

She slides down her door instead, sitting down heavily with a sigh. She pulls out her cell phone to check Gossip Girl. Maybe there is a blast she missed while out, or there could be an updated location on Jenny. She scrolls and can almost whoop with satisfaction to find a post on Jenny's slip off to the UES, which was only supposed to be temporary. After nobody seemed to blow up over her presence, it seemed Gossip Girl had deemed it unnecessary to send out an alert. But GG informants probably still thought Jenny's present was OMG worthy and sent in places where she's been spotted immediately. Location tracking of Jenny showed she was spotted nine different times at four places: Grand Avenue, Brooklyn, a certain Bushwick Avenue in Queens, and another address she knew to be Carolina Herrera's atelier, and the loft. Dan doesn't have to look for signs Jenny is here in the Upper East Side; here is the proof. The Carolina Herrera atelier explains how Jenny had gotten ahold of her blue lace dress too, and how Serena's own dress was damaged, delaying her arrival to Chuck's party.

 _I should set Blair and Chuck on Jenny's trail,_ she thinks, pulling out her cell phone.

"You bitch-" Blair's voice roars out of the phone, and Serena jerks away from it, wincing.

"Blair, it's me! Not Jenny."

"Right. Sorry. Have you found something? Chuck, stop drinking like you think you're Hemingway and get over here."

Serena gives a tiny smile before sobering. "Dan told me Jenny is involved in this somehow. We have to find out just how much and also how to get proof. She's still in the city. She lied to Dan, Rufus, and her mom about where she was. Gossip Girl located her on the map a couple of times a few days ago on Grand Avenue in Brooklyn, and a few other places that I want to check out with Nate. Can you and Chuck get to Brooklyn? There probably won't be much to find but maybe we can piece something together."

There is a long silence. "Jenny Humphrey took it too far when she slept with Chuck, but this is a whole new level. She's come close to taking away two people I love most. This bitch is deader than my crocodile skin Hermés." Indeed, Blair's voice is still-anybody listening in would say she spoke quite calmly. But Serena knows the fury behind the calm. Blair resumes, "Chuck and I can see what dump this Grand Avenue place is."

"Thank you, Blair. Good luck. Wait a second!" Serena says before Blair hangs up. "Do you mind meeting Dan at the loft and taking him there as well? He was going to check to check for signs of Jenny at the place, but he should be done now. I think he should be involved in this somehow. I would go with him, but I really need to work things out with Nate. Don't let him and Chuck fight! And Blair, don't pick on him either."

There is only a scoff and a muttered 'fine' before Blair hangs up, but not before Serena hears her command Chuck to check Gossip Girl for the address and to find some sanitary masks. Serena shakes her head with a smile at her best friend.

Serena pauses for a minute before dialling Dan. He picks up on the first ring. "Hey, Dan. You're at the loft right now, right? Did you find anything?"

Dan sighs audibly through the telephone. "Yeah, I did. There are things in Jenny's room that I'm pretty sure weren't there before, and I see that her bed is kind of hastily made. Plus, neither my Dad nor I go near the Raisin Bran, which is almost completely gone, and that's her favorite cereal."

"I'm sorry, Dan. I know how much you wish she could be innocent."

"That's nice of you, Serena, to say sorry when Jenny probably took part in kidnapping and drugging you. God, how did it come to this? What am I supposed to tell my parents? And where the hell is she?"

Serena has no answers. Jenny has never been a close friend, but Serena never thought she could be capable of something horrendous. But her trying and failing to steal Nate away from Serena probably has a lot to do with this—hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and Jenny had been scorned all right. She tried to ruin Serena's life and pinned it on Nate.

Serena closed her eyes and tried to control her breathing. "Listen, Dan. We have to find her, and we have to figure out what really happened. Will you help me do that?"

There is a shorter silence that she expected, and Serena smiles at his answer immediately. "I'm in."

"Dan, thank you. You're the best. Okay, Blair and Chuck are heading over to Brooklyn now to pick you up and take you to an address Jenny's been spotted at on Gossip Girl."

"Serena van der Woodsen, did you really know I was going to agree to be a part of this before I did?" Dan has a laugh in his voice, and Serena feels light-hearted at his tone.

"I know you, Dan, and I know you've always wanted a chance to play Sherlock Holmes."

"Ah, the truth comes out. You remembered that I said those short stories were my favorite freshman year."

"I distinctly remember walking in on you reading a monologue to me in a bad British accent and pretending you had a pocket watch."

"Ah, my dear Watson, you simply don't understand the humor of the books."

Serena giggles at that, and they share a happy moment before both come back to reality. "I'm sorry I saddled you with Blair and Chuck. I know they're not your favorite people, but please don't fight. I wish I could come, but there are other locations that I have to check with Nate."

Dan takes this surprisingly well. There's only a brief pause before he answers,"Okay. I guess I'll see you later. I hope we'll have good news."

Serena takes on a doubtful expression, even though Dan can't see her. "Yeah, I hope so. Bye, Dan." She closes her cell phone and breathes out a long breath at the coming afternoon. She knows she still needs to talk more with Nate. He sacrificed a lot to help her that night, and she's treated him poorly since then by running away to Dan. She texts him to come down to the lobby and meet her. Hopefully it will be enough.

* * *

Unsurprisingly, it isn't. Nate isn't cold, nor unfriendly, but neither does he make a conscious effort to be friendly. He responds to Serena's efforts to talk monosyllabically, though kindly. After a short while of it, she gives up with an internal sigh of disappointment.

"What the hell?" Nate says disbelievingly as they arrive on foot.

"One of Jenny's locations on Gossip Girl's map. 5379 Bushwick Avenue, Queens. Is this it?" Serena asks. The taxi had dropped them off in the middle of the street since they couldn't see the house numbers from the cab.

"Serena, this is Juliet's old apartment!"

Serena, looking at him, furrows her brow. She pulls out her cell phone, double checking Gossip Girl's locator. "Jenny Humphrey. Spotted. January 18th, 19th, 20th, 21st, and today's the 25th.I haven't gotten it wrong."

"Then what was Jenny doing here?" Nate says, running a hand through his hair. "If she was here four days in a row then-"

"Juliet had to do something with it."

* * *

"Brooklyn! Get out of the car before I have to touch you and shove you out. These gloves are new you know."

Dan still refuses to move, instead staring out at the apartment with with wide eyes. He should've known, should've asked for the address. He could've saved them a trip all the way out here. He knows this place and its surroundings like the back of his hand. "What does this place have to do with anything," he says in a monotone.

Chuck deigns to acknowledge Dan's presence for the first time. "Jenny-"

"Don't you dare say that bitch's name, or I'm going to soil my gloves throwing you out of the car too." Blair fixes a piercing look on him before turning to reply to Dan whose fist clenched when Chuck addressed him. "The wannabe racoon was spotted here three days in a row a couple days ago. Do you know this place? I can see that you do, so speak up."

Dan inhales slowly before opening his mouth, inspecting again with his eyes the neighbourhood that he knew so well. "It's Vanessa's apartment."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Darn, I tried posting earlier, I really did. Review and favorite if you like what you're reading!**

"So the three of them teamed up," Nate says flatly.

"I guess Vanessa and Juliet were humiliated by their takedown and wanted revenge," Serena speaks. "on me. And Nate too. They decided Nate was a good enough fall guy."

"And Dan's friend from their shared dumpster decided to bring the skinny bitch into their circle," Blair adds.

Before the livid Dan can come the closest he's ever been to hitting a girl, Chuck steps in. "But now the question is how we can gather enough hard evidence and present it to that detective of yours, the one who believed you, in time to clear you as a suspect and put the three of them in the courtroom instead. With any luck you can avoid the trial."

Unfortunately, Dan doesn't calm. Regardless of his disappointment in Jenny, she's still his little sister. He couldn't imagine being responsible for putting her on trial, nor imagine that she could really do something like this. "I won't believe my sister would try to harm you like that. She may be involved, but she wouldn't have condoned what happened. She's changed, but she's not a criminal. And I've known Vanessa for years. She's not capable! "

Serena puts a hand on his arm, making him look at her. "I wouldn't have thought any one of them were capable of it, but everything points towards this."

Dan jerks his arm away, his eyes cold. He looks around at the four of them. "You guys already convicted her. You don't care that the so called evidence you have is subjective. Jenny's already guilty. And Vanessa too." He looks at Serena, face unchanging but mentally begging her to speak up and deny it. She stays silent. His face grows even colder. "I'll prove she isn't."

Serena moves to stop him as he backs away, words on her lips to make him stay, but he brushes her and her words away. "On my own."

* * *

Serena sighs as Chuck picks up the cell phone. She runs her fingers through her hair. "This was our last hope for finding where she was."

Chuck had gotten Andrew to track Serena's SIM card in an act Serena was sure could catch Jenny Humphrey. Blair and Chuck would force an explanation out of her and record it-they had foolproof methods and ways. The pair had been flawlessly successful at their tried and true method in high school, and as long as Jenny was found from her rabbit hole, there was no reason Nate couldn't be released.

But the satellite tracking-which had gone without a hitch at the beginning, meaning the cell phone was miraculously on and not off-had led them to the an alley in a lively but poor street on the outskirts of Brooklyn.

"We've run around for a week trying to find her, Vanessa and Juliet. I don't understand where they could be," Serena says, fingers tugging at her hair frustratedly.

Nate nods, agreeing. "We haven't heard from Dan, Gossip Girl hasn't seen them and assumes Jenny went back to Hudson, and Juliet and Vanessa went back to whatever hole they popped out of after being humiliated at the ballet."

"The school Jenny's at in Hudson is still on winter break for a while, and she doesn't have any close friends she could be with. Plus, Rufus and his ex-wife are still under the impression she's at each other's houses. No help there," Chuck adds.

Blair rolls her eyes with a twist of her lip. "In a classic Parent Trap move. We should tell Rufus."

Chuck shakes his head decisively. "If we can't find her after a week of work, there's no way Rufus can do anything. We also don't have a single clue on the whereabouts of Juliet or Vanessa. Nate, our perfect boyfriend here, doesn't even know where Juliet's from, or if she has family," he says, jerking his chin at Nate. "Not to mention the fact that she doesn't even have a ghost of a record. Vanessa been arrested a few times for hugging trees, but Juliet is snow-white."

Serena can't help but feel smug that Nate doesn't know Juliet well, even though it means they are no closer to finding her.

Blair interrupts Serena's thoughts."Even poor people have to have mothers and fathers. Who spawned Vanessa?"

"No sign of a father, but Andrew checked the last address that was written on Vanessa's mother's income taxes three years ago, and she doesn't live there anymore. She hasn't filed anything else since then. Guessing from the various lists of organizations he's found her on, she's a conscientious government objector who's committing tax fraud who hasn't been found out yet." Chuck pinches the bridge of his nose. "He feels like he could dig up more documents on her address, but he needs more time since he can't exactly go through official channels."

"It also doesn't help that Gossip Girl reported us trying to look for Jenny. She knows we're on to her," Serena says. "So what do we do now? We've exhausted all of our choices."

The group sighs. Blair snaps her fingers (or as much as she could with her new obsession with Dior's kid leather gloves) and, grasping at straws with a desperate glint in her sharp eyes, says, "Jenny's minions from Constance!"

* * *

"It had to have been Juliet, Dan. I was with Vanessa the entire time. I told Mom that I'd be back next Saturday, and I couldn't go back early or else she'd be suspicious. I was going to stay at the loft, but then you were there and I couldn't, and I had nowhere to go. I stayed with Vanessa at her apartment for a couple days, but then Gossip Girl said they were looking for us. Juliet disappeared, so Vanessa and I decided to stay at her friends' apartment while they're away until it's time to go back to school in Hudson. They would've gone looking for me in Hudson at Mom's house, and then she would find out that I lied about staying with Dad. You have to believe me, Dan, Vanessa and I had nothing to do with the drugs and kidnapping!" Jenny seems to be on the verge of tears.

Dan found her after two days of constantly monitoring the Gossip Girl map for their position, giving up on that idea, and then calling Gabriela Abrams, Vanessa's mom. He had hit himself on the head for not thinking of it beforehand. After he drove two hours in a rented car to get Jenny, not trusting her enough to come back by herself, and she answered the door, he practically had a meltdown on the porch yelling at her. But he's relieved now. Jenny's a liar, but he knows that this is not a lie. Just one look at the desperation in her kohl-lined eyes is enough.

"Okay, okay, calm down. I believe you. But that doesn't mean we aren't going to talk about how even though you had nothing to do with the drugging, you tried to hurt Serena," Dan says. "For now though, we really need to find out who really did it. Think of it as your redemption."

"It has to be Juliet. She disappeared after Chuck's party, when we dressed up as Serena. I couldn't find her and Vanessa and I haven't heard from her since. And plus she would never tell us what grudge she had against Serena in the first place."

"So do you have any idea at all where Juliet is?" Dan asks.

Jenny shakes her head. "I don't. Gossip Girl hasn't posted anything either. But she wouldn't be any use to us. She won't spill. We have to have proof first. What did Nate say really happened?" Before Dan can open his mouth, Jenny lights up, grabbing her purse and taking her brother by the arm out of Gabriela's apartment. "Come on, tell me everything as we drive back to the Upper East Side, I have an idea."

Stepping outside the dingy dark apartment (economically and ecologically sound, Gabriela would say, away from the corporatization of Manhattan), they get inside the car. Dan hopes she actually knows what she's doing as he begins the story.

* * *

"Blair, don't talk, just listen to me. Pretend it's your mom or something, please don't argue," Dan says into the phone. He is standing in the lobby of Carolina Herrera's minimalistic atelier, and Jenny is nowhere to be seen, having disappeared into a cherry wood framed door off to the left when she asked for Carolina herself. But Jenny gave him enough instructions in the car that he knows what to say. He was directed first to text Blair that he was calling, but not to say his name out loud. He has to hand it to her: she knows what she was doing. He's alarmed at her formidable scheming, but this time, it comes in handy for a good cause.

There is a brief moment of hesitation on the phone. It has been days since anyone heard from Humphrey. Blair looks at her bored friends sitting at the small café they tucked themselves into dejectedly when the girls from Constance hadn't been much help. She gives an annoyed huff. "Mother, you know I'm busy this time of day-you're lucky I just finished my interrogation with Jenny's minions. They haven't a clue about anything, by the way. So what do you want?

Dan blows out a breath, relieved. "I found Jenny-I know you won't believe me when I say she wasn't the one, but she was in Poughkeepsie with Vanessa. Juliet is the one behind all of it. They were working together at the party pretending to be Serena to turn all of us against her-you can have fun with that later-but Juliet disappeared after the party. None of them could reach her. Then they heard we were trying to find them, and they bolted to stay at a friend's house."

"I don't understand why- "

"Why you have to keep a secret? We can't involve Nate and Serena anymore. Jenny apparently turned into a PI overnight and said that if they helped, the validity of the evidence we gather might be compromised. Call me Watson, but I think that's solid logic."

Blair's voice is icy cold when she replies. "So, Mother, what's the point of that? We don't have any evidence apart from the trashman's word, and we all know how much that's worth."

"I'm going to ignore that. You don't have much choice but to trust me. Serena told me that Nate said that there was some weird bag-lady that handed him an envelope with the address of the building Serena was in? You have to find her, somehow. Ask the homeless around that same street. Jenny thinks you can somehow extricate the information from her, you being Blair and Chuck."

There is a momentary pause as Blair pushed back the fake leather and brightly colored chair, motioning to an alternately bored and baffled Serena, Chuck, and Nate as she moves away from them to a relatively far away corner to talk. Blair bites out a reply as soon she is out of earshot. "Oh, shut it, Watson. We don't even have a name. Nate barely told us anything about her! And why all the secrecy? We'll just tell Serena and Nate to stay home."

"Do you think Serena will really stay out of this if she knew what was going on? And I'm willing to bet Nate wouldn't either. What else do you propose as a plan? The envelopes and the dress were nowhere to be found in the apartment; Juliet is too smart for that. It would be impossible to find all the people Nate talked to that night on the street, from what I gathered from what Serena told me. Finding the cab driver Nate told to follow Serena's cab would work against him." Dan continues, more passionately. "Not to mention that people might recognize him, if they haven't already. There's been no newspaper headlines, but could you imagine if any reporter got ahold of Nate and Serena walking together near where the kidnapping was supposed to have happened? No, our only chance to make the right people pay is this way, and you and Chuck are more than experienced enough to pull this off."

There is a long, long pause. Dan can imagine the grimace on Blair's face, ruby lips twisted in disgust at having to take orders from someone from Brooklyn.

"Let it be on the record that I will have your head if this is a wild goose chase. I'll see what I can do. I suppose you and Jenny will be joining us then?" There is barely concealed distaste.

"Actually, no, we have another assignment from the mastermind."

"Oh, do tell, I'd love to hear her perfectly-laid out grand scheme."

"We're in Carolina Herrera's atelier-Jenny wants to see Juliet's receipt from when she bought the copies of Serena's dress. We know we can't take it, but at least want confirmation so if we take it to the police we won't look like fools. It'll support Nate's claim that there was two people in the same dress-"

Blair cuts him off. "I knew the 'mastermind' would fail. Humphrey, put Carolina on the phone. Jenny'll never confirm it. Carolina has a strict no client info policy with unfamiliar clients, obviously. It will be a miracle if the bitch ever gets an audience with Carolina."

Dan scoffs. "And you think you can pull it off? Forget it-"

"Do it, or so help me, Humphrey."

Dan reluctantly walks up to the door and knocks. A throaty voice tells him to come in. He steps into an enormous stark black and white office, complete with translucent chairs that looked like with one tap they would shatter. Jenny looks up from her perch on one of the chairs, her eyebrows knitted together, and mouthes, "What?"

He turns to Carolina. "Uh, I have a Blair Waldorf on the phone for you."

The designer's eyebrows raises, making her face crinkle. "Ah! Miss Waldorf." She frowns, looking at his worn button down and dark blue jeans up and down. "I didn't know we had a new intern. Who are you?"

"This is Dan Humphrey, my brother," Jenny says quickly. He hands over the cell phone to Carolina's outstretched hand, and the brother and sister wait while Blair works her evil magic.

Carolina finally hands the phone back after a series of "Do come soon, Blair darling, I have a couple of pieces set out for you" and "Lovely to talk to you Blair darling" and "Good-bye, Blair darling,

She opens a drawer on her polished black desk and rummages through it, her long nails clacking with the manual labor. Jenny makes a subtle 'get out' gesture, and Dan attempts to argue. Failing, he excuses himself from the room, exiting the massive, shiny black door. He presses the cell phone back to his ear and says to Blair, "I suppose I have to thank you."

"You do. Now, Chuck and I will need everyone we can get, as much as I hate to admit it, so meet us at Dean and DeLuca in an hour. I'm craving a coffee," she sniffs distastefully at the awful cheap café she's in presently as she makes her way back to their table-she had spotted the Dean and DeLuca in the corner of her eye next to Constance; it had been a favorite haunt during lunch when she was in high school. She needs as much of the hour as possible with Chuck to distract the other two, so the rendezvous with the Brooklynites had to be close. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to figure out a way to keep Nate and Serena out of this." The line goes silent.

* * *

Meanwhile, Carolina draws out a fancy cardstock paper with flowing black script and takes a look at it. "Here it is. Two blue tiered dresses. Fall 2010 RTW. Juliet Sharp. Money wired to Carolina Herrera Ltd." She passes it over to Jenny waiting patiently. "Take a look, but I can't let you keep it. And this never happened."

Jenny looks it over. Yep, it's solid evidence for the police to come and recuperate. She nods, passes it back, and thanks the designer, who looks her up and down with an appraising eye. She grabs her bag and pushes through the huge doors.

"Come on, Jenny. Dean and DeLuca's with Blair and Chuck to find Bag Lady,' Dan says, motioning his head at the exit when he spots her walking towards him. She pauses in her tracks.

"Dan, no, I can't-"

But Dan is already dragging her by the arm outside with his other arm held up so he can see the time on his wristwatch. The pair will expect him and Jenny in an hour, and with the traffic from people heading home from work, it'll be a struggle getting to SoHo.

Dan can see the light at the end of the tunnel; a light that could signify being together with the girl he loves, the girl he always has loved. He's so close to catching the real person who drugged Serena and clearing Nate-so close to ending it all. Serena will choose at the resolution of all of this, he knows. There is no way she can put it off any longer after this, and no way he and Nate will allow her to. He has the beginnings of a sense of a definite end, unlike at the masquerade. This decision will be it.


	12. Chapter 12

"So Jack Bass..." Serena ponders, walking back to the Empire with Nate. It is almost pitch black outside, thick storm clouds covering the moon and stars. She shivers.

Blair fed Serena and Nate a quick bullshit story after getting off the phone with Dan. She feigned that the PI had called her cell phone right after talking with her mom, and he had seen Jack Bass hovering outside Lily and Rufus' penthouse. Chuck sat up ramrod straight upon hearing his uncle's name, incredulous, but knowing the look in Blair's eyes, did not protest. Blair insisted that Serena and Nate go over all the transaction records that Chuck's lawyer was sending over in order to find something to nail Jack with while they saw Andrew about getting Jack's phone records. Ten minutes into their walk, Blair called again, this time with Chuck fully on board with hoodwinking Nate and Serena off the real trail. Together, they concocted a phony voicemail from Jack threatening to harm Serena again if Chuck didn't hand over the company. It had apparently been obliterated from the network when they tried to access it for Nate and Serena, so they never got to hear it. They were off to find Jack's whereabouts in New York while the blond duo were discovering the "proof". Little did they know that Chuck just shipped 15 cartons of paper records to the Empire to bury them in. ("I'm sorry, but my father never subscribed to the idea of using devices that had the potential to leave traces that couldn't be completely burned, and I agree. We do things the old-fashioned way in my company")

"It wouldn't have been my first guess, but Chuck and Blair seemed sure of it. They had the evidence in the voicemail too, even if it was destroyed before we could hear it," Nate says, shrugging.

"I still can't believe Juliet, Vanessa, and Jenny would hate me enough to try to take me down in the first place. At least they hadn't gone as far as to drug me."

"Are you kidding? That seems easier to believe than Jack Bass. I can't picture it."

Serena protests. "The guy's crazy. Blair said in the voicemail it was just because I was the first one of his family he saw at Chuck's masquerade-so it could've been you, too. Or Blair." She shivers, this time partly fueled by fear for those possibilities. "I still think we should've gone with the both of them."

Nate surprises her with a one armed hug. "Don't worry. They'll always be fine as long as they have each other. Come on, you know Chuck would kill anyone who so much as touches one hair on Blair's head, even if that anyone is his uncle."

Serena leans into his hug. "We'll all be okay if we have each other. I mean that more than you know." She leans back and looks up at him. "I hope you know that no matter how any of it turns out we will always have this."

' _This friendship?'_ can't help resonating through Nate's mind, slightly crestfallen. But he dispels the thought. It's comforting enough to know that Serena will, as of old, be a true friend, when just a week before, he was sure she would never want to see him again.

"What the-" Serena breathes, breaking away from Nate as they both stop in their tracks and the moment is gone. The sight of at least twenty people decidedly not dressed like most of the clientele at the Empire bringing enormous boxes stuffed with various manila files was enough to make most of the street stop in confusion.

"Son of a bitch."

* * *

Blair grimaces as she pokes a toe of her Guiseppi Zanottis on the grey cement of the police department. "Is this sanitary," she deadpans.

"Blair, it's a police department, not a sewer, which is what you are miming stepping into right now," Dan retorts.

Chuck and Jenny, as far from each other and Blair as possible, sigh in exasperation. The first day they had met up had been spent in what they now considered heavenly blissful silence-Blair had not condescended to react to Jenny, and Chuck had not the face to speak in front of Dan and Jenny. The trip to the Koch Avenue in Queens yielded nothing to clue the motley foursome to the location of the mysterious woman who had given Nate the envelope. The hopelessness of it all had even driven down the ever-determined Blair, causing her to snap at everyone and fight constantly with Dan-perturbingly the least awkward and most acceptable person to talk to (fight with) in her retinue at the time. She had slightly calmed when Dan had contributed most excellently to their accumulation of evidence, but Blair soon returned to her irritable mood when catching sight of Jenny again.

Nonetheless, they emerged victorious. By asking a particularly knowledgeable man living on the street, Dan found the huddled figure currently trailing behind them that mutters to herself, jerking silk cloth between her fingers.

Chuck stares at her for a moment. "Let's just get to the detectives, alright?"

Blair jerks her chin up. "Aren't I leading the way already?" She marches up to the desk and requests the presence of the detective in charge of the Serena van der Woodsen case. 'Demands' is probably the better operative word.

A while later, a dark haired man in a wrinkled suit and bags under his eyes approaches them. He holds out a limp hand, and Blair shakes it, surprised to find his grip firm. "Blair Waldorf. The others don't matter." She reconsiders. "As much."

"Detective Constable Robert Kwychowski. Wish I could say I have the time, but I'm swamped right now, could you-"

"Actually, we can help you clean up some of your, ah, swampage."

"We have the evidence to prove Nathaniel Archibald's innocence," Chuck cuts in.

"You're going to want to hear this. Even better, you're going to want to see it," Dan adds.

The detective rubs his face. "I'm guessing you're his friends?"

"We're also Serena's friends. We want to bring the person who hurt her to justice, but we want to bring the right one," Blair says.

He ponders his next words before speaking. "And I'm guessing you think you know who the right one is?"

"Juliet Sharpe. But not only that, but after grubbing around in God-knows-where, we found what you incompetent fools couldn't. Here-"

Kwychowski starts at this, cutting Blair off before she could say another word. "Lady, let me give you a reality check here. You may live in your hoity-toity la-la-land part of the city, but this is goddamn Queens and your boy is not high on my priorities when I got a murder investigation, two sexual assault claims, and a couple of vehicular manslaughter charges on my plate with no more budget to hire more officers, are we clear? So I don't need you, Blair Wal-shit, to come waltzin' in here calling me and my men incompetent fools, you get that?"

Blair has a rare moment of speechlessness. Dan stifles a laugh and an urge to shake the detective's hand.

"Now, what do you have to show me?"

She regains herself quickly, and although with a newfound attempt at respect, speaks with no less verve. "Jenny. The dress receipt."

Jenny wordlessly passed over the embossed cardstock from Carolina Herrera's atelier to the detective.

"This is a dress receipt to prove there was someone who pretended to be "Serena" that night by buying two of the same dresses."

Blair then grabs the bag lady by the arm and jerks her in front of the detective, who was scrutinizing the cardstock. "And here is the person who Juliet told to give the envelope to Nate with the address of the Calderon building, who is willing to testify to that fact."

Blair waves a hand forward, and Dan pulls out his phone, tapping a few times on the screen before handing it to the detective who puts on a pair of spectacles to see. "Courtesy of Dan dumpster diving, the blasphemous shredded Carolina Herrera. And in case you want to prove this was staged, go ahead. Call Carolina-she never made or sold more than three of that dress, which means the only way we got a hold of these dress shreds is by breaking into your evidence locker to get to Serena's dress, or we found the one Juliet shredded. You'll see the address of where that picture was taken at the top of the screen.

"Keep scrolling, Detective. You'll see another picture of some scissors that we didn't touch, but if I could make a suggestion to you _very_ competent people to dust for fingerprints, you'll probably find Miss Sharpe's prints on them. So yes, Blair Wal _-shit_ did do your job, didn't she?"

* * *

"This preliminary hearing has found that in light of the insurmountable evidence brought forward proving the innocence of the defendant Nathaniel Fitzwilliam Archibald, I hereby declare Mr. Archibald innocent on all charges in the Serena van der Woodsen Case." The judge bangs her gavel with an air of finality. "Court dismissed, hearing is adjourned."

Serena is too aware of Dan sitting in the row behind her as Nate comes down to the rest of the courtroom, but she pulls Nate into a chaste hug of triumph anyway, laughing as she almost knocks him over in surprise. "You're free."

"Thank you for believing in me," Nate whispers.

"No." She pulls away slightly to look in his eyes. "Thank you. You went through all of that just because you tried to help me when I was in danger. Thank you."

"Oh come on, Serena, you know the toughest part of this thing was spending hours going through those stupid files and wanting to kill Blair and Chuck for lying to us about it." They pull away from each other, laughing, before Anne Archibald comes running over to throw her arms around her son. Serena smiles at the pair of them, with Nate trying to calm his mother down by awkwardly patting her on the shoulder.

She walks away, thinking of the past few days, with the both of them frantically trying to make their way through the records while having no idea what to look for or what the mess of numbers was supposed to mean. And it had been so damn awkward in Chuck's penthouse with each other. Serena didn't know what to say, and what little they had said barely counted as small talk or commiserating over what the numbers in the left corner meant on page 792 and 233. They slept on top of the files, which Serena was grateful for, given that it meant she could avoid her fears of breaking down when confronted with memories of two weeks ago. No, she had to keep that bottled in. She couldn't let Nate see that when she was barely ready to confront it herself.

She shakes her head as if that would shake off her heavy thoughts as she watches Blair and Chuck congratulate Nate. Jenny cuts in at the exact moment before Blair and Chuck can reach him, throwing her arms exuberantly around her former flame. "I'm so glad you got out of this alright, Nate."

Effectively distracted, Serena bites her lip to keep from screaming at Jenny. She not only tried to take Serena down, but was also part of the reason why Serena and Nate broke up in the first place. She needn't have worried about Jenny and retribution, however. One look at Blair's fiery glare, and she almost laughs out loud.

"The trash here really needs to be picked up, doesn't it?" Blair spits out.

"Looks like your high school tricks didn't work it, did it? It's been a long time since you've been Queen Bee." Jenny smirks, lording the fact that she had been the one to get the first piece of evidence over Blair.

Blair takes a step slowly over to her with a small smile on her lips. It isn't a warm one. "I'm not someone who doesn't give credit where it's due. Congratulations, Little J, on being not so little anymore. You've bested Blair Waldorf on this one." Blair leans forward conspiratorially. "But no one will forget that you tried to ruin Serena and turn everyone against her. My punishment for you coming back to the Upper East Side won't even need my doing. Once everyone finds out what you did to Serena, they'll all think you only helped so you wouldn't be put on trial for the drugging. And they will find out. Your sorry face won't ever be accepted here again. You can pass that along to your friend Vanessa too." Blair smiles wider. "You may not be so little anymore, Jenny Humphrey, but you're still Little J, because you never learn." Jenny tries to speak, but Blair cuts her off. She sees Rufus behind Humphrey. "Save your protestations for your father," Blair says, before a crisp turn to Nate.

Serena schools her vindicated expression into submission. She looks toward Dan who's also making his way over. Serena catches his hand as passes. "Hey," she says simply.

He intertwines her fingers with his and gives it a squeeze before letting go. "You know I hate to say I told you so, but. . ."

Serena lets out a light chuckle. "But you told me so. You proved it, almost on your own."

"Hey, I went dumpster diving for that evidence, which is more than Chuck and Blair's claim to fame," Dan quips.

Serena's voice softens. "I know you did all of it to clear Jenny's name, and it's great that she's not going to be on trial like Juliet, but I really am glad you helped Nate. You helped me too, you know. I don't know what I would've done if Nate really had gone to jail when the only thing he did was try look out for me."

"I know that, Serena. Jenny may have been part of the reason, but I thought about you. A lot actually." Dan's too afraid to say just how much he thinks about her. _I'm in love with you!_ he wants to scream.

Serena looks into the chocolate brown eyes, ringed with long lashes, that see right through her, to the deepest thoughts she's ever had, the very core of who she is. She always feels like he can look straight to her essence. She could have kissed him then, just out of wanting to thank him for involving himself for her, but settles for a tight hug across the seats, just feeling her cheek on his and their arms wrapped around each other. She misses this. Just two weeks ago, she came out of the hospital, and his arms were all she had. But things are different, circumstances have changed, and Serena knows she either has to go back into his arms or leave it forever for someone else's.

Dan breaks the hug and says something about going over and congratulating Nate, but Serena is already far away, striding out of the crowd and heading home to figure out her jumble of thoughts, because she needs to make a choice _._ A choice that will break Dan or Nate's heart, but also, she feels, her own.

 **A/N:** **If you liked it/hated it/want to see more or less of something, leave a review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N:** Oops, it's been too long. How the hell does that happen? I have essentially all the story written out, and I just need to post it, and real life still gets in the way. We're close to the end though, stay tuned!

* * *

 _Gossip Girl here, your one and only source into the scandalous lives of Manhattan's elite. Have you heard the news? It looks like our Golden Boy has used his shining rays to dazzle the jury-he's as innocent as George Zimmerman, which means perhaps not at all. Poor N-he may have won his innocence, but he just lost his parents' marriage. Someone tells me the newly freed Captain won't be returning to his not-so-dedicated wife and is instead flying to Europe. Not a hair to be seen of either of them, but instead, smiling in the audience is Serena van der Woodsen, fresh as a rose from a drugging that finally wasn't her own doing like in the good old days. God, we miss those days. But what we want to know is whether her clean cut Chanel ensemble at the courthouse today has anything to do with a clean cut when it comes to her two devotees. We hardly post nowadays without mentioning Dan, Serena, and Nate in the same sentence and it's getting a little Gone with the Wind in length. Something tells me that S will have to choose between N and D quicker than a New York minute. We strongly encourage taking bets on the poll below—the minimum bet, between friends of course, is that new Miu Miu bag. XOXO, Gossip Girl_

 _Dan 50%_

 _Nate_ _50%_

Serena slams her fists down on the bed next to her laptop. It doesn't give her the satisfaction of a loud smack. "Not even Gossip Girl can help! I've trapped myself here for two days straight and I can't make a decision."

Blair sighs from her position in front of the mirror applying lipstick. She blots her lipstick before turning around to face her best friend. "This isn't going to be easy, S. Last time you tried to make a decision you said-"

"Dan, good shoulder to cry on. Nate, good shoulders," Serena recites with a rueful half smile.

"Exactly. Oversimplification isn't going to get you anywhere. A stupid Gossip Girl poll shouldn't get to make the decision for you. You're going to have to give something up. Just don't give up something you can't survive without." Blair turns back to the mirror in her typical fashion of a little seriousness, a little vanity.

Serena falls on her back from her sitting position on the bed. "Why can't this be as simple as you and Chuck?"

This time Blair whips around. "There is nothing simple about Chuck and I. I may have," Blair clears her throat. " _certain_ feelings for him, and he may feel the same way about me, but there are insurmountable obstacles in the way."

Serena purses her lips. "You're right, I am wrong. You're just choosing between Chuck and other obstacles. It seems like an easier choice. Maybe in the same way you would think I was crazy if I chose someone other than Nate."

Blair uncharacteristically flops onto the bed next to Serena. She stares off into the distance a while, thoughtful. She turns her head to look at Serena. "I want you to choose the guy you think can make you happy for the rest of your life. I don't want you to ever regret your choice years from now. You know I think Nate is a great guy, of course. And much as I detest saying this, truly, and I'll murder you for ever repeating it, Dan isn't so bad either, even if he'll never wash that dumpster smell off. I thought I was determined to clear Nate's name, but he outdid me and did all of it to make you happy. He cares for you."

"Wow, this coming from Blair Waldorf? And you didn't refer to Dan as Brooklyn? I'm shocked," Serena says with a lighthearted laugh.

"It doesn't mean I like the Brooklyn Brat." Blair rolls her eyes at Serena. She extends her hand and presses it to Serena's. "I'll support you in whatever choice you make. But it's your choice. Make the right one. Call me when you choose, okay? I'm hopping a plane to LA for Epperly for a few days. She wants me to write some article for W on 'West Coast, Best Coast' from a New Yorker's perspective. Please. As if. We live in the only city that matters in the continental US. I'm going to come back with sunburn." She gives a small smile, squeezing Serena's hand, before rising from the bed to change.

"I'll miss you, B. Hey! I want a pair of jeans from Mother in LA. The Stunner, please," Serena begs.

"I'll be too busy to go hunting in some back-alley in Los Angeles, Serena. Why anyone would want to shop in LA when one lives in New York, I just don't have an answer for that."

"They're the best jeans this side of the world, Blair. And I'm only asking because you owe me a favor after feeding Nate and that bullshit about Jack Bass!"

Blair giggles. "So worth it. You two really proved your worth as blondes. Jack Bass, really. I came up with that one in two minutes." She laughs so hard that Serena has to join in, and they clutch at their sides when their stomachs cramp from laughter. When they recover, Blair leaps up from the bed again, protesting at the time.

Serena sighs, coming down from the high of laughing to reality again. She rubs her eyes in fatigue. She still can't quite feel safe just yet in bed, even if Juliet is sitting in a holding cell awaiting trial. Her nights, the nights that she even managed to sleep in a real bed instead of holding herself together on the couch, were punctuated by nightmares. Her sleepless nights were steadily improving, but not at a fast enough rate to improve her thought processes. Blair often came and stayed up with her, rocking her back and forth as memories of that night haunt her, but those memories come less often and less vividly each day.

She sits up as she contemplates her next move, trying to shake off the sleep threatening to shut her eyelids. She turns in her mind the Rubik's cube of two colors: Dan and Nate, trying to get the colors aligned and organized to no avail. She thinks back to her last encounter with Nate.

* * *

"You got my text," Nate said, smiling as he stood up from the park bench. The crisp air made the meeting seem light and easy, and he looked well. He was clean shaven, his brown hair a little messy as usual but much neater than it had been, and the wool coat he had on over an old navy sweater she had seen countless times looked warm.

"A walk in the park in the winter? Wouldn't miss it," Serena joked, as she strode over.

"Wouldn't miss Central Park's food truck ice cream in the cold either, would you?" Nate tossed a small plastic container coated with frost to her.

"Never," Serena said, catching the container even as it almost froze her hand. "Reminds me of the time you took me here to keep me from Tripp. I hadn't really noticed how many times you've saved me." The atmosphere grew in seriousness. None of them said anything for a while as they scooped ice cream into their mouths thoughtfully as they walked.

Nate spoke. "You've probably heard that my mom and dad are divorcing, right?"

Serena paused. "Nate, I'm so sorry. I did hear. Are you okay?"

He brushed off her concern with a small wave of his hand. "It's okay. I've denied the truth to myself for a long time now. I've always seen that my mom didn't really miss him as much as she should. I'm a big kid now, and she knows that. She doesn't have to stay with my dad." He tried for a small smile, but it came out sadder than he would've liked.

Serena touched his shoulder as they began to walk. "It's not your fault, you know. With or without you, if it doesn't work out, it can't."

"Yeah, that's true. I guess I just had this dream that the three of us would, you know, come together as a family as soon as my dad was out."

"You'll make your own dreams, Nate," Serena said, sucking on her spoon to get the last dredges of ice cream.

Nate stopped and turned toward her. "My dad is moving to London. He says there's nothing left for him in New York. Russell Thorpe only hired him to get to Chuck, and nobody else will take him. He wants to try his luck somewhere else."

Serena knew him well enough to feel some trepidation at what might come next. "Nate-"

He stared intently into her blue eyes. "I want to go with him. I don't want to see him as little as I did when he was in prison. I'm deferring the rest of Columbia for a while. I have someone who wants to take me as a paid intern in the Spectator." Nate takes the empty ice cream containers and chucks them into the trash. He grasps her hands tightly. "Come with me. I know, I know, we've been here a lot. With Tripp, with Dan. It doesn't matter. Come with me."

Serena's mouth was drier than chalk. She couldn't speak, couldn't make a sound. She hadn't seen Dan since Nate's hearing. She couldn't accept, at very least, not yet. London. . . "When," she manages to say.

Nate's grip slackened a little. "I'm leaving with my dad five days from now. Friday."

Her mouth is cotton. "It's so soon."

"Yeah, well, prison doesn't exactly make patient people, does it? He's not even going to spend time waiting for work visas. We'll go the embassy in London to get them done. And to be honest, Serena? I have to move on, too." Nate scuffed his shoe on the cement a little before saying, "I have to go. I'm going back to my mom's house until I leave. Just. . ." He trailed off. "Tell me, before I leave, okay? Bye, Serena."

Serena watched his retreating back and shivered in the cold air. She jerked her coat around herself, burrowing her chilled face in the warm comfort of the high necked coat before coming up for air. Friday. She would know by Friday. She had to know by Friday, or the both of them would leave her in the dust.

Serena stifles a sigh. She would miss Nate. A lot, undoubtedly. But New York. Manhattan. Upper East Side. It's her home and always has been. It's _the_ city. She would be leaving behind her life in exchange for a life with Nate. Columbia (although she is sure Dean Luther wouldn't mind her leaving), Blair, Chuck, even her mother. Not to mention Dean and DeLuca's and Barney's. To think she could leave in just two days time-not even Blair knows about this.

She doesn't know if she can make that choice. London-she's visited London before, summer of freshman year at Constance. She remembers Big Ben not being as big as the name suggested, the enormous black cabs, adorable accents that she sometimes couldn't understand, and endless,endless, rain. Well, the shopping at Mayfair was excellent and she still loves the bespoke tweed crop coat she got at Savile Row.

But Nate. She would have him, he would be her sanctuary. But the thought doesn't placate her as she pummels the pillow beside her as she thinks now of Dan and when she saw him yesterday.

* * *

"Nate wants me to go live with him in London," Serena said, staring down at her knitted socks curled under her on the sofa.

Dan choked on his coffee, somehow managing to spit all over himself and dump the remaining drops all over his shirt. "Excellent, that's really excellent," he muttered, jumping up as the boiling fabric now stuck to his skin.

Serena giggled from her own cozy (dry) spot next him, her hands wrapped around a pristine coffee mug of her own. She hunted around for the throw that was a fixture at the sofa in the loft and tossed it at him. "Just take your shirt off and put this on."

Dan shrugged off his shirt, and Serena was silenced. His eyes catch Serena's. His dark gaze intensified as he placed the blanket over himself and his shirt on the coffee table.

"How could you leave New York?" he said, his voice low. "This is where you belong." He took her hand. "Serena, from the moment you stepped into my life, the first moment you looked at me, really looked at me, Daniel Humphrey, I knew you were different. You never looked through me, and you saw me. And I saw you. I see you, who you are, what you're thinking, how you're feeling. You make me want to let go." He gently rubbed his thumb over her hand he was holding, still holding her hostage with his eyes.

"I once was the start of the new Serena. Let me be the future."

Serena's eyes were bluer than the ocean as they filled with tears. "Dan, I-"

His lips were on hers, a familiar place for them to be. They moved together, their heads tilting at exactly the right moments. It was winter; their lips were chapped, but they couldn't feel it. Serena's hands came up to cup Dan's face, pulling him in, and he complied, his bare chest pressing against her sweater. His fingers pressed against the belt loops of her jeans. She ran her hands up to Dan's hair, the deep brown locks that were so much longer than they once were, but she didn't mind. It was so easy, so easy to just kiss him.

Dan's hands slipped under her sweater onto her hip bone and Serena was finally jolted into a rational thought. She hadn't said no to Nate.

She gently turned her head away and pressed her hands into Dan's chest. "I need to give Nate an answer, Dan. I can't do this."

Dan's face was still too close. His crestfallen eyes closed and he too turned away and straightened. "I'm going to grab a shirt and make more coffee," he announced, running a hand through his curls.

When he came back, Serena was determined to make things more lighthearted. "How's Jenny? Blair really gave her a hard time at Nate's hearing."

Dan gave a short laugh. "Yeah, well surprisingly, she said nothing but the truth. Nobody in the city is exactly friendly, because they think she had something to do with drugging you, and my dad was not pleased to hear she had a plot going against you. Actually, 'not pleased' is maybe like saying Lincoln Hawk might get back together this summer. It's an optimistic statement. I'm actually kind of afraid they'll never talk again. Jenny and my dad, I mean, not Lincoln Hawk." He quirked his lips in humor while putting the coffee beans in the espresso machine.

Serena could see how much it actually bothered him that his family was continually fractured despite his efforts to keep it together. She stood up, walking up against the counter. "Hey, I know it'll be fine. Forgiveness takes time. A lot of it. I would know, with my family. To be honest, I'm still waiting it out with my mom. But I know that even if it takes a little time, we'll be okay."

He looked up gratefully, giving that Dan Humphrey boyish smile. His shoulders relaxed, and the lines around his mouth smoothed. "I'll try to be patient." The double meaning behind his words was understood.

Serena looked down, guilty that he and Nate both had to be. "I should probably get going. Blair booked a table at The NoMad tonight."

"Hopefully it's going to be as good as it sounds pretentious," Dan cracked.

Serena giggled, coincidentally bringing to mind for the both of them the time he told her he loved her childish, four-year-old laugh. "I'll be sure to tell you." Her coat already on and her bag on her arm, she walked to the door of the loft and opened it. Hand on the door, she hesitated before speaking. "I'll call you, okay?"

"Yeah, of course."


	14. Chapter 14

Serena launches herself out of bed, pacing. Blair left long ago for her plane, meaning her last safety net of logic and reason was out the door. She has to figure this out herself. She's done with opting out. She wants this. More than that, she needs it.

New York is where Serena has always fit in. From the designers to the business execs, from the party invites to front row at Fashion Week, she has her niche. But life in New York with Dan would mean a different adventure. She has always shown him her world. She is his way in, and her world in New York is brighter with him in it. In turn, Dan shows her his life, and his version of the city. Cozy, a little squished, a little dark-the intimate jazz concerts at Zinc Bar with voices she's never fallen in love with until that moment, with Dan pressed up against her at their commandeered corner. Still holding her hand, they playfully bickered with each other on the merits of modern art from Williamsburg, a woefully mind-boggling affair of artists still living versus European art and the Frick Collection, with its haughty 18th-Century figures. And the time they first had sex in the cheesy snow flake room, where they had told each other they loved one another.

She walks out to the French windows, unfastening all the latches and throwing the glass open. Waves of cool air hit her, but the scarlet and orange hued sunset filtering in between the buildings warms her. She leans out, sitting with her back against the wall on the windowsill as she watches the way the mirrored buildings in the distance continue the portrait of the sun.

New York is the place she gave Dan her all. Three years ago she had fallen in love with Dan. He had been her world and she had been his. They had broken up time and time again, from one petty thing or another, but they always ended up chasing each other. She could feel the end of the chase this time around-three years they had spent going round and round. One could only give chase so many times. This time is the last. She has feelings for Dan and Nate, but she loves Dan.

But Nate. Her friend before all of this started. Growing up together, being there through all the hardships she had, through all the Petes and the Gabriels and the Carters and Tripps and her mother and an absent father. And now Juliet. He loved her enough to chase after her with no thought of his own safety. She was his first and his first love. From day one of her memory as an Upper East Sider she could remember his sparkling blue eyes and easy smile, even at four years old. There was the time they had sex in a coat closet to rank that one party above the literal millions she had attended, the electric kiss they had to make Nate's cougar jealous, and making breakfast together, kind of, if breakfast included caramel, breakfast olives, strawberries and cream. She remembers the late nights they spent in Central Park with her in crazy messy bun, shorts, a t-shirt, and sneakers as Serena made Nate promise to turn her into a better lacrosse player than he was. He was good, of course, being on the Columbia team, first string, but she had little other rival on the field hockey field. Athletic and willowy, they had loved playing one on one and laughing as she playfully bumped him out of the way to score past the two oaks. The picnics they had afterward were resplendent-tired and sweaty, she always laid in his lap in the grass as he made her laugh with the ease he's always had, talking about everything and nothing.

Serena saddens as she realizes that at the time, she was falling in love with him. But they never did have enough time to fall completely in love. Maybe it would've come later. But she had broken up with him before that could happen, because of Dan and her history with him. She's disappointed. She's never been in love with Nate.

She rises from the windowsill in a burst of energy. Her thoughts are gaining momentum, and energy pulses out of every bone in her body. A walk. She's feeling a walk to nowhere in particular. She jerks open Blair's bedroom door and runs out, ignoring Dorota who waves her Jil Sander coat at her ( _Miss Serena!_ ), flying in then out of the elevator. The crisp air does nothing to cool down her jubilance, and she feels as cherry hot as the sun shining crimson.

She rounds the corner, thankful she's wearing her quilted flats. She's _disappointed._

Serena shakes her mane of blonde hair in joy at her epiphany, striding across street after street.

She realizes she's never jumped in, all in with him. It's always been a toe in the water, from the Shepard wedding to the kiss at the White Party to last year after Tripp. She's never trusted just him, just Nate, to be enough. A friend. He has always been a friend, above all else. Even when she had dated him last year it had been that way, with no plans and the feeling of temporality. They had lived in the now-that had meant sex, so much sex, a voraciousness stemming from wanting to hold him and take him before what they had was gone. Because they had spent their whole life talking and laughing and being friends.

Their relationship was too soon after being caught up in Tripp's spell and being ready to go public and commit to Tripp. That had scared her away from committing truly with Nate.

Serena almost hits herself in the head. She had even bet on her and Tripp before she had bet on her and Nate. But Tripp turned out to be a caricature of what she painted him to be. Nate is real. Of that, she's sure.

Serena finally slows down to take in the street she's at, bordered by Central Park. It's nothing special, a couple of brightly lit restaurants and other little fancy boutiques, but she turns into it anyway. She passes by the closed up shops, trailing a hand across the cold glass and reveling in the way the sunset made all polished surfaces in the street light up warmly. In just a few hours, the bright white hued street lights would be on. She stops when her trailing hand hits the brick of the building and she presses her back onto the wall, tilting her head to look east at the smooth dark blue sky, already released from the power of the sun. She closes her eyes, not caring that the fine strands of her hair are already getting caught in the grooves of the brick.

She had taken the leap of faith with Dan many times, believing that he was the answer to redeeming herself from the old Serena. And he had been, in many ways. She had loved him, still loves him, but the opportunities to be together and stay passed them both too many times to count. What had Blair said? Be sure that you choose the man you won't regret for the rest of your life. And Serena can't be sure that the love she feels for Dan will be enough to be happy for the rest of her life. She wavers in that decision, but she closes her eyes and breathes. She knows it to be true, when so much had pulled her from him in the past.

The deep ache in her heart throbs at acknowledging the love that she grown, cultivated, and sustained for Dan Humphrey for three years was not enough. But Serena is comforted by the fact that it is slightly dulled with the knowledge that she wants, needs, and trusts Nate like she never has before. The unerring faith and the love he's given-she's disappointed that she's never given herself the freedom to love Nate. But she wants to give her all. She never has with Nate Archibald, but he deserves it, and she wants it. That want is proof enough to her that she will continue to fall in love with him, and that this love can carry on.

Truth is, on this seemingly endless high of clarity that in the past, she tried to seek with drugs, she's more confident than she sounds. She's not so sure of anything, because Dan is and always will be her first love. But the thought where her energy and hope are stored and stemmed from, the part where she holds her faith, is the thought that she wants Nate to be her last love.

Serena comes back down to earth, peeling herself away from the wall, continues walking the same path that she's walked too many times to count since she was a child. She realizes that she's not only choosing Nate, but she's choosing London. Two weeks ago, she would've laughed. But it's time she forges a new path. Columbia isn't the right fit anyway-she'll simply stop trying to convince Dean Luther to readmit her after what Juliet did. Maybe she'll apply to colleges in London, or find a job, like Nate, but going away from the Gossip Girl-infected city sounds better than she expects it to. After this whole debacle with Juliet, Jenny, and Vanessa, she feels she's finally ready to wash her hands of the whole affair. She never wants to be hurt by the obsessions of those around her ever again. Gossip Girl is only an effective conduit of that sort of poison. Just as Nate is growing up by leaving New York, so will she.

She thinks back to a few days ago to their meeting in the park. Serena realizes that Nate didn't exactly embellish his plea for her to stay-in fact, he had barely touched her, barely begged. He made it clear he wanted her to go, but in comparison, Dan had declared her his future. It brought her back to a time when Nate had alluded to the fact that he should be well versed with her leaving, but he wasn't. For a bold move like moving to London, he certainly brought no more energy than Dan.

Nate doesn't expect her to go, she realizes with a jolt. He doesn't think I'll choose him. He's holding only just the smallest candle of hope, because he thinks he knows he'll be disappointed.

Serena can't get to him fast enough. The short walk between the Waldorf's and the Archibald's townhouse is only around ten minutes, but she increases her strides, even in her Louboutins. She almost jogs down the block, giving quick shouts of "Sorry sorry sorry" and "Watch out please!" to the various Upper East Side nannies walking small babies and runners. She raps hard at the door, breathing hard, and a confused looking Anne opens the door.

"Serena, honey-"

Serena cuts her off impatiently. "Please, is Nate here?"

Sensing that Serena wouldn't be the most avid listener, Anne simply widens the door and steps inside, knowing that Serena knows her way around. Cutting around to the back towards his room, she bursts through the door.

Nate looks up where he had been sorting through various old t-shirts, a huge trunk in front of him already half full but never folded, because he never folds. Before he can even blink, Serena is already in his arms, breathless from running, knocking a precarious stack of t-shirts over.

She presses her forehead against his, their noses brushing gently as their eyes meet, blue on blue. Serena murmurs, "I choose you."

Nate's eyes close, a ragged breath of shock coming out from his mouth. A rapturous smile graces his face. He tightens his grip on Serena, and he buries his head into her shoulder, letting out an incredulous laugh in happiness. "London?" he asks, a waver of uncertainty still in his voice, raising his face to lock his sapphire blue eyes with hers.

Serena nods, confidently, assuredly.

"London," she states.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ It's not over yet! But I hope some of you won't be disappointed in her decision. I have long been a diehard Serenate fan, but I wanted to give Dan a chance as well. Let me know in the reviews how happy/angry you are! I wanna know. This was probably my favorite chapter to go back and read, and I hope you guys enjoyed it too. More chapters to finish this out on the way.


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